Last Spark
by Leivve
Summary: 17 Years after Cinder's defeat, and Ruby has been enjoying life with her family. Till she finds a ominous note in her daughter's room.
1. Prologue

"Mom!"

"It's your turn." The exhausted huntress whispered to her significant other.

"Mom!"

"She's calling for you." The blond mumbled back, slowly pulling his pillow over his eyes.

"Mom!"

Ruby grumbled fully awake. She threw her first leg out of the bed, before bringing the other over to bring her into a sitting position.

"Love you." A small mocking smile on his face.

"Fuck you." She whispered back.

Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose from its place at her bedside. With the push of a button the shaft extended out part of the way. With a small grunt of effort she lifted herself up, leaning on the masterfully crafted weapon, now condemned to a crutch for her right side.

"Mom!"

"Coming sweetie."

The rose hobbled her way toward the door and down the hall to their daughter's room. She took a moment to massage the massive scar that was burned into the back of her right knee and calf.

After soothing the slight irritation in her joint, she opened the door. Her daughter's silver eyes reflected in the moonlight from her bed. Her hair was of a lighter shade closer to that of her grandmother's, but other then that she took after her. Every time she saw her she was reminded of the joke the doctor made, when she was born.

_"I feel bad for you Mr. Arc. Almost all your genes are dominant, yet your daughter must hate you so much she took everything from her mother."_

"Mom, there was a scary women here." Her daughter's voice pulling her back into reality.

"Oh honey I'm sure it was just a bad dream." walking over to take her daughter into her embrace.

"No! I saw her jump out the window, she had black hair and gold eyes!" She protested in an attempt to have her mother believe her.

The two details about her description unnerved Ruby. She pulled the small girl closer to her. Everything was just how she left it earlier. Her eyes flashed around the room looking for something to hint what she might have seen.

Her eyes fell upon a white slip of paper on the little girl's dresser. Ruby broke the embrace and made for it.

_What a beautiful girl you have_

"Jaune! Get in here now!"

**Alright first apology for not updating Vytal Metros last week, I finished the chapter on Thursday, and didn't like it AT ALL. So I've spent this week working on it. Still not fully confident that anyone will like it, but I need to put something out. So tomorrow you can look forward to that.**

**Also this will only be 4 chapters (not including prologue and epilogue) so don't worry about it taking away time from metro. It's just a small little project that I originally posted on Reddit and told people to use as they pleased, but since no one did it kept nagging my mind till finally I just broke down and had to write it.**

**Actual chapter one will be posted in an hour or two tonight so make sure you Follow + Review.**


	2. Summer

After Mom saw the note on my dresser she called Dad. They talked for a long time in the hall, but I couldn't really understand what they were saying. Mom sounded angry, while Dad was calm and talking to her, the same way he talks to me when I get upset. Mom did calm down enough, and she came back into my room.

She asked if she could sleep with me. I said yes, and she pulled back my covers, crawling into the bed next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and snuggled up next to her, and she did the same.

I woke up to find mom wasn't in the bed anymore. I looked at the clock next to my bed, seeing the time. Quickly I got out of bed and straightened my blanket. I held my hand over the button for a long time, and after the number had changed five times it started beeping. Instantly I pressed the button and ran out of my room for the kitchen down stairs.

"Dad! Dad! I did it! I woke up every day this week before my alarm did!"

"What? No you didn't." He said with a confused look on his face.

"Yes I did! Tell him mom."

Both of us turned to her, smiles on our faces while she started counting the days on her fingers; "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and now Friday. Yep she did wake up early every day this week."

"Huh, I guess that means I have to share my ice cream with you," he said smiling at me, "After school of course."

"Yay!" I shouted, before getting in my seat.

Mom poured me a bowl of cereal. After which I turned the box toward me so I could see aunty Pyrrha on the front while I ate. When I was done dad told me to brush my teeth and to meet him in the car. I ran to the bathroom back upstairs to brush my teeth. Then ran to my room, to change into my cloths.

I picked out my black skirt and stockings like mom usually wore and a gray shirt. I wrapped my red scarf around my neck so the long end went down my back, and threw on my grey and black messenger bag. I caught myself in the mirror and fixed my short hair so it wasn't standing up. After flattening it and rubbing a sleepy in my eye, I ran down stairs to the door.

Mom was standing there waiting in front of the door. I stopped in front of her while she got on her knee. It took her a moment, but she got on her knee without hurting herself. She ran a finger through my hair, fixing a few loose strands. I hated it when she messed with my hair and backed away out of her reach. She smiled at me and asked for my teeth. I showed her they were brushed, then went up to hug her. She gave me a big kiss on my eye like she normally did.

I broke the hug to go out to dad, but was pulled back into another hug from mom. She pulled me up to her chest, her arm wrapped around my waist and put my head under her chin. The hug felt strange for some reason, like it wasn't out of love, but something else. After a moment I twisted around to return the hug.

Another moment she loosened her grip on me, then whispered in my ear; "Please be careful."

Finally she let go of me, and I gave her a kiss on the lips and left shouting, "I will!" as I ran out the door.

I got in my seat directly behind dad. He waited for me to buckle my seatbelt before even turning the car on. The first part of the ride was quiet as dad focused more on driving, but once we got on the big road he started asking me questions.

"So how are Mars and Grey? You haven't talked about them in a while."

"They're nice, they play with me during recess, but a kid named Vang Lionheart has started being mean to us."

"He has? What's he doing?"

"He hogs the swings all recess, or goes around calling people names."

"Does he have any friends?"

"No, he's mean to everyone and shoves anyone who's mean back to him. We tell the teachers, but they never see him."

"Maybe he's lonely and wants to play, but doesn't know how to ask."

"No, he's just a big meanie." Dad made a loud breath and took a while before he spoke again.

"Can you make me a promise?"

"What?"

"Next time you see him during recess can you ask him if he wants to play with you?"

"I don't want to!"

"Please? I think you might be surprised how nice he can be if you give him a chance."

I crossed my arms and looked out the window, not wanting to look at dad anymore. After a while I took a deep breath and told him I would, but still looked out the window. In the corner of my eye I could see him smiling, and he started asking me how classes were going. They were fine, I had an A in every class; because mom sits with me after dinner and helps me with my homework. It wasn't fun, but she let's me have a cookie when we were done.

We came to a stop, and I was about to ask why, but saw the front of the school. Dad told me to have a nice day while I ran inside yelling "Goodbye."

I took the first left and ran down the long hallway for the room on the very end. I ran by the bathroom and the drinking fountain in the hallway. The second graders were just starting to take their seats off their desks, so I knew I wasn't late for class.

Mrs. Ash was organizing some papers at her desk while waiting for the bell. The five tables in the room each had five seats, and I walked over to the only one still open next to Grey. Unfortunately, Mars got stuck sitting at the other end of the room.

When the bell finally rang, Mrs. Ash stood and started handing out yesterday's homework.

"Bell, nice work."

"You forgot to carry the one on the last three problems Richard."

"Grey, the number on top does matter for subtraction. I'll give you a pass this time since you did the actual math right, but next time it's a zero."

"Summer." Handing my paper to me.

"Ebony, good job."

I looked at the grade to see a 23/23 at the top. I looked over at Grey's page, and though his was covered with red marks he still had a 19/23 on his.

"Aw, you always get a perfect grade."

I stuck my tongue out at him and gave him what dad calls a 'peace' sign with my fingers. He stuck his tongue out at me, before we both turned to Mrs. Ash as she finished handing out the papers.

"Alright class, today we will start with writing. If someone wants to collect everyone's homework-" She stopped the moment I stood from my seat and started going around collecting everyone else's work from last week.

Class went about how it always did. I put the papers in the same spot I always did, then we listened to her talk. Whenever she would ask the class a question I would raise my hand every time, but she seemed to only pick me when mine was the only up. She would even ask if anyone one else had a guess before she would call me. After she was done teaching the subject getting a large assignment that we would do for a little bit, but have to finish at home.

The bell rang for lunch and me and Grey ran for the cafeteria before to long a line could form.

"No running in the halls!" Mrs. Ash yelled at us, making us slow to a walk; well power walked maybe.

The line wasn't too long, and Mars managed to get a spot not too far behind us. It was pizza day, the third best day of the week.

"Summer are you doing anything tomorrow?" Grey asked as we grabbed our food.

"I don't think so, why?" Grabbing a milk carton for him and me.

"Do you think your mom will let you come over and play? Dad has been gone all week."

"I'll ask mom if I can." Sitting down with our food.

We happily ate together till Mars finally sat down next to us.

"Summer I wanted you to sit next to me for class."

"Sorry, the seat next to Grey was the first one I saw."

"You always sit next to Grey." He humphed before taking a bite out of his own pizza.

"So you want to play on the swings?" Mars asked, after being the first to finish his pizza.

"Yeah let's go!" Both me a Grey said finishing the last few bites of our own, and downing the rest of my milk.

"**No running in the halls!"**

We arrived outside, and Grey and Mars managed to out race me to the swings. I leaned on one of the poles to hold myself up while trying to catch my breath.

"No fair," _huff, _"You guys are taller then me."

"Not our fault you're short." Grey said already getting some height on his swing.

"I'm not short!" Getting angry at him, I always hated it when people called me short.

"Everyone in class is taller than you, even Mars is an inch taller." Mars joined in by sticking his tongue out and giving me a peace sign like I had given Grey earlier.

"I'm not short," Crossing my arms and turning away from them, "Mom say's I'm vertically challenged."

"What does that mean?" Grey asked looking to me then Mars for an explanation.

"I think it's just a different way of staying short." He said, not fully confident in his answer.

I walked over to the swing next to Mars, but before I could get going, Grey jumped from his swing.

"Vang is coming."

I looked about trying to find the playground bully. Mars jumped from his swing at the same time I spotted him.

"Let's go to the jungle gym, my mom says we should just avoid him if he's being mean."

I ignored them and walked for the bigger boy. I hated what I was about to do, but I had made dad a promise.

"Vang?" I asked, coming up from his side.

"What do you want Spring?"

"It's Summer." Already not liking his attitude.

Grey and Mars came up behind me, obviously not liking being so close to him.

"Would you like to come play with us?" Just saying it made me want to wash my mouth out.

"Why would I want to play with a bunch of babies like you!"

I turned on my heel and stormed away, "I didn't way to play with you anyways, I only asked because dad told me too."

I walked over the the monkey bars but didn't bother getting on them. I was very angry, I was just being nice, but he had to be mean.

"Summer, just leave him be. Come play instead." Mars said trying to distract me.

"He's so mean, I wish the teachers would notice."

"My dad says you should just ignore people like that, because all they do is keep you from enjoying your own life."

I let out a deep breath before looking to Mars, an evil smile on my face.

"Tag! You're it!"

"Hey, no fair!" He complained, releasing the bars while me and Grey ran in opposite directions.

I ran to the jungle gym and quickly scaled the side, ducking inside to escape Mars' grasp. I easily outmaneuvered him as me made a desperate attempt to climb up fast enough to catch me. I started crawling around the outside, but he managed to get closer to me, causing me to jump off; landing very hard on my legs.

"Ground is lava!"

I jumped back onto the bars and resumed climbing around, putting distance between me and him, while he tried to figure out how best to get to me. Grey joined me on the jungle gym and the two of us started calling Mars turtle as he struggled to catch one if us.

I climbed up the side to the top while he was going for Grey. I climbed over and looked around the huge playground, a "Your it!" pulling me back into the game.

"Your it!"

"Ten second protection."

"No, you're it!"

"Ten second rule Grey." I told him stopping the argument before it happened.

"Fine. 1, 2, 3-"

His countdown was a little fast, but Mars could get some distance while I stayed above them. I looked up at the rest of the playground while waiting for him to finish counting. In the distance, I saw a kid I'd played with a few times on the swings. Normally he was at the table by the doors looking at his 'Reckoning Cards' or playing with his 'Game Walker' in the cafeteria. I also saw Vang walking straight for him.

"Tag, you're it!" Grey said, his hand touching my heel.

I jumped to the ground, once more ignoring the pain in my legs. Shouting, "I'll be back!" while I ran to the swingset.

I arrived in time to see the kid on the ground, crying, no doubt having be forced to the ground some how. Vang stood over him laughing and mocking him further.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" I shouted from behind the two.

"What do you want Sunny?" His attitude from last time still in full force.

"Leave him alone." I threatened, my own attitude starting to show.

"Make me." He turned back to the kid from before and shoved him back to the ground once he got on his knees.

"I said leave him alone!" I threatened yet again, marching up to Vang, not exactly knowing what I would do.

"Or else what?" He asked, both his hands pushing into my chest as I came into reach, forcing me to the ground.

I accidently cryed an 'ow'. Causing him to smile in satisfaction.

"Is the baby going to cry now?" No longer paying attention to the kid from before, who was now running as fast as he could to get away.

"I'm not crying!" I shouted in anger quickly getting up.

This time I came at him, but did know what I was going to do. I threw my hands up and this time and pressed them on his chest. It took all my strenght to do it, but I did manage to shove him to the ground. He growled with anger realizing I wasn't going to just back down or run. He grabbed a handful of dirt and quickly came around to throw it in my face.

I yelped in surprise at the sudden attack, but managed to cover my face before any dirt could hit me. I felt a slight irritation in the back of my head and lowered my arms to see what was causing it.

In the corner of my eye I saw Vang's hand coming from the side. My brain froze as I saw it coming, I don't know why I didn't react, but for some reason I just couldn't. The next thing I knew, my head was knocked to the side with a red hand print on my cheek. I felt tears watering in my eyes, but I held them in; I couldn't cry right in front of him.

The pain was quickly replaced. I felt my teeth press on each other and my hand ball into a fist. A soft maroon glow surrounded my hand as I looked back at him. My glowing fist came forward with everything I could put behind it. Every ounce of anger and strength I could muster went into the hit, and when it made contact Vang was sent a few feet away, landing on the ground.

I took deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself. Vang didn't get up, and I spend the moment to look around. Everyone was watching me, many with shock on their faces; others with a small amount of fear. One stood out as anger, and quickly realized why.

"SUMMER ARC! TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE NOW!"

_Why am I in trouble?_

:::::

I sat in the chair in Principal Amber's office. She had spent the last thirty minutes telling me how hitting is unacceptable under any condition. I sat alone in the room, while she left to call mom, and tell her what happened. Apparently the kid who Vang was picking on had told Mrs. Ash what had happened, but she only saw me hit Vang and refused to acknowledge that he hit me first.

Principle Amber through was willing to accept that he might have started it, but reinforced that it doesn't matter who started it, "Hitting is unacceptable."

Mrs. Amber came back into the room, but Mrs. Ash wasn't with her.

"I couldn't get ahold of your mother, but your father is on his way and says he'll be here shortly."

It was a painfully long wait. Mrs. Amber had collected my homework for me to do while I waited. I only finished the first row, when dad finally came through the door.

"Sorry I took so long. I hitched a ride on a bullhead with some hunters going out on a mission and had to run a few blocks after I jumped." He apologized while brushing dirt from his pants.

"It's no problem Mr. Arc. Honestly you're here much sooner than I expected."

"Oh, that's good. So what happened?"

Mrs. Amber went about paging Mrs. Ash to join her while dad took a seat next to me. It only took a minute for her to arrive, the whole time dad was eyeing me. He didn't look mad, but his gaze felt heavy, and I couldn't bare to look at him.

"Thank you Mrs. Ash, could you explain to Mr. Arc what happened?"

"I saw your daughter hitting another student. Not just that, but I saw her do it with aura. Vang the boy she punched is fine thankfully, just receiving a minor concussion."

"Why did you punch him?" Dad asked, turning to me

"She-" Mrs. Ash was cut off when dad raised his hand to silence her.

He leaned forward so we were eye level and asked again.

"He was bullying another kid. I told him to stop then he pushed me. I pushed him back, knocking him on the ground. He then threw some dirt at my face and slapped me. Then I punched him."

"Did you do what I asked you to in the car?"

"Yes, but he was still mean to me."

I felt his hand fall on my head, but only as a soft pat. I looked at him to see a smile on his face.

"Good job, sticking up for someone who couldn't protect themselves."

"Mr. Arc! You should not be encouraging this behavior." Mrs. Ash near yelled at him.

"Why not? In five years she'll be in Signal so she'll have to hit people during sparring."

"You _think_ she'll be at Signal. How do you know she want's to be a huntress when she grows up?"

Dad turned to me, expecting me to answer.

"I want to be a huntress because I want to help people. Mom and dad do it, and I like practicing. They said I'm really strong since I can use my aura already!"

"There you have it."

"You and Mrs. Arc are a terrible influence on her. You are driving her to become a violent, self centered and-"

"Mrs. Ash! That is highly inappropriate and unprofessional."

"Don't worry, we'll be leaving." Dad said, standing from his seat, and offering me his hand.

"You can't just let her go unpunished-"

"Mrs. Ash!" Mrs. Amber said, cutting her off for the second time, "But she is right. It's fine if she wants to be a huntress Mr. Arc, but might I remind you hitting isn't tolerated in _this_ school."

"Alright. Summer, do you promise not to hit anyone."

"Yes."

"Alright, there you go. Next time she hits someone you can just say she broke her promise."

Mrs. Amber gave him a nod, before motioning her hand in approval for us to leave. Mrs. Ash turned to the Principle, but the door was closed before she could start speaking.

"So now what?" I asked looking up at dad, since I wasn't just sent back to class.

"I still owe you some ice cream don't I?" My smile grew, while he let go of my hand "Race you there!"

"**No running in the halls!"**

The ice cream shop was just across the street from school and just as he said, Dad let me get any ice cream I wanted.

"Extra large cookie dough flurry please."

Dad chuckled and told them to get a large.

"You said you would let me get any size!" I complained.

"If you can eat a whole large, I'll get you a second large."

He asked for a large mint while they prepared my ice cream. Dad handed the cup to me and told me to wait by the bench across the parking lot. I skipped happily with the large treat in hand. Once I arrived, I immediately started eating. Just slow enough to enjoy the taste.

Dad arrived with his own cup, scooping out his own desert. He watched me eat for a moment before laughing to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing, go ahead and keep eating."

I looked at him with confused look, but shrugged and went back to eating. Then it happened. I felt it coming before it actually happened, but that just made it worst.

"Ow, brain freeze!"

Dad broke out into full on laughter this time. He set down his ice cream so it wouldn't spill on his blue jeans or hoodie.

"It's not funny, ow."

"Put your thumb on the roof of your mouth, it'll help a little."

I did, though it did take a while for the pain in my head to stop. I took a few more bites when dad told me to come along.

"But I'm not done yet."

"Don't worry, I'll get you a second one, but we should head home now since we need to walk."

"Why?"

"Dad took a bullhead, so the car is still at Beacon; but that does mean you get to see Uncle Ren tonight and tomorrow morning when he takes me to work."

I jumped for joy, careful not to spill my treat. Dad ordered a medium for me while I finished off my current one, and he finished his soon after.

We walked down the street toward home. I had finished off my second flurry and ran ahead to deposite my cup in a trash can.

"Summer, come here, this is a shortcut." Dad waved his hand for me to join him as he started walking down a back alley that cut through the city. The road was kept clean, save a few things of garbage that didn't quite make it to one of the many dumpsters. Normally these back roads had one or two people walking, but today were empty.

"Do you think mom will be mad that I got in trouble at school?" The thought of home making me remember she didn't know yet.

"No, I think she'll be proud of-"

I felt a slight irritation in the back of my head, and next thing I knew, dad pushed me to the side shouting "Look out!"

I fell to the hard ground, letting out an ow in response. I looked over to dad to find out why he pushed me, but instead looked to see a ball of fire consuming his head.

It disappeared just as quickly as I saw it, and dad fell on his butt.

"Dad?" I called to him, hoping he was alright, only to see another ball of fire collide with his head like the first one.

Looking over I saw a woman slowly walking toward us, with black hair and golden eyes. She held two more fireballs in her hands, and a smile on her face. Dad groaned as he tried to get up, before another attack knocked him back down.

I climbed to my feet, not knowing what was going on. Why was this woman hurting dad! I looked to dad to see he was still moving then back to the woman to see her raising her hand up to throw her last one.

"NO!" I shouted as I ran between the two.

I raised my hands up, and concentrated on raising my aura as high as it would go. My eye's were close, I was too afraid to see what was happening. A moment later I felt a force hit my own head, and my aura was quickly broken.

It hurt, it hurt like nothing before. Vang's slap was nothing in comparison, but before I could scream in pain it was gone. and everything was black; I couldn't open my eyes, I couldn't move my body, I couldn't feel. Just black.

**As promised the first chapter of Last Spark, from the perspective of Summer Arc. I've also been working on some art for this (I'm making this a thing even past the story). No promises on when it'll be done, but I am doing it. Outside that look forward to Vytal Metro tomorrow.**

**And so ends Lancaster Wednesday Review + Fav; and thanks to /u/Challos for editing.**


	3. Jaune I

**I planned for Jaune to have only one chapter like summer, but the amount of development I put into him that I felt was needed it was getting so long I just embraced it and made it a two part.**

"Jaune! Get in here now!"

I was still dead tired, but from the tone of Ruby's voice I could tell it was urgent. I lifted myself out of bed and headed in the direction she called from.

Ruby was standing outside the door to Summer's room. In her hand was a piece of paper crumpled up in her fist, while she glared at it with enough intensity that you would think she could set it on fire.

"What's wrong?" I could guess it had to do with the paper, but I wanted the full story.

"Cinder was in Summer's room." Her voice seething in anger.

"Cinder Fall? How do you know it was-" She answered my question by shoving her fist with the paper in my face.

_What a beautiful girl you have._

I looked up from the note. It was certainly a threat directed at Ruby, but didn't prove much. Ruby has made plenty of enemies over the years. Cinder being sentenced to life in a maximum security prison made her the least likely of people.

"How do you know it was Cinder not someone-"

"Summer saw her! Black hair and gold eyes."

I was going to put logic forward again to calm her, but she spoke first.

"If that… Bitch even looks in Summer's direction I'll fucking gut her!" She softly shouted to herself while taking back the paper and crumbling it up in an attempt to vent her anger.

"Ruby, clearly she wants you not Summer. Don't let her get to your head." I still didn't think it _was_ Cinder, but I wanted to focus on calming Ruby at the moment.

"But what if she comes back! What if-"

This time I cut her off, placing a finger on her lips to force the point.

"If you're concerned then just stay in her room. I think I can survive one night without you next to me."

She took a deep breath before pulling me into a hug.

"I wonder how you can be so level headed at times. I can see why Ozpin wants you to replace him."

"Why do people keep saying that? He hasn't said anything to even hint that."

"Yeah he has. You're just so dense at times I doubt you would need your aura to stop bullets."

"Goodnight Ruby." I said, ending the conversation there.

"See you in the morning."

She pulled me down the inch she needed to crush her lips on mine.

I watched her hobble into Summer's room while I returned to ours.

The night remained quiet after that. Still, I found it hard to sleep. It was strange not having my rose next to me. My mind couldn't rest, and I rolled back and forth trying to get some form of comfort. I was concerned about the intruder and their threat, but there was also a pinging feeling in my head. After a few minutes of contemplation, I figured out what it was. The realization of just how big this bed actually was, and the fact that Ruby still manages to push me to the edge of it in her sleep almost every night.

:::::

I slept soundly once I finally did go under, despite what had happened last night. The alarm clock on Ruby's side rang and woke me up. Normally, she would wake up before it even started, but she was down the hall this morning.

I threw my arm off from over my eyes, but kept them closed. I didn't want to get the alarm, I wasn't annoyed by the blaring alarm quite yet. After only the fifth beep, that fact changed, and I gave a soft groan, knowing I would have to get up early today.

Silence finally came to the room, save a small pop. A slight movement shook the end of the bed, and I peeked an eye open to see Ruby staring at me as she hopped along, using the bed as support. I closed my eye, glad to know I didn't have to get up.

There was a click from my nightstand, but before I could inspect it, a pair of warm lips crushed on to mine. I instinctively returned the affection for a moment before we parted.

"Sorry about that, I forgot I was in Summer's room."

"You'll have to try harder then that if you want my forgiveness." I teased.

"I think I can to that." She joked, going along with me and placing her lips back on mine.

I felt a slight tug, as her lips wrapped around my bottom one and inclined to sit up. She broke the kiss and I finally cracked my eyes to see the morning sun shining through the window, making her skin glow in a beauty I've yet to find anywhere else.

"I have to head to the forge early for a delivery, so I'll have to earn your _forgiveness_ in the shower."

Ruby's alarm was thirty minutes before mine, and she normally liked to spend that time in the tub 'till I woke up and needed to clean myself; even after in some cases.

I pulled myself out of the bed, not bothering to fix the sheets this moment was Ruby stood and started pulling me toward the master bathroom. I let her hand pull mine as she limped along, using me for support every time she stepped on her bad leg.

Normally, she opted for the tub so she could lay down and take the stress off her leg. Today though, she grabbed her stool and placed it in the shower. I stepped into the shower with her while she took a seat, falling the last inch after visibly wincing from the pain in her leg.

I knelt down in front of her and ran my hand along her calf. I could see the simple motion was already causing her great relief, and brought my other hand to resume the motion while the first went up to the back of her knee. Her scar was very rough, yet sensitive, and it only took a little to get Ruby to let out a deep breath from comfort. Normally she couldn't walk on it for more than a few steps, and could only stand on it for a little over a minute, but today must have been one of those days when it was really bad.

I stood back up and ran my hands along her sides, then over her head, as I removed her tank top and tossed it out the shower door; and on the floor. I leaned forward and rested my head in the crook of her neck. Her hands rolled down my back then returned how they came as she pulled the shirt I had worn yesterday over my head. I stepped out to grab a pair of towels, and heard the sound of the shower turn on, and a small yelp from Ruby.

"Forget the cold water?" I joked while I threw the towels on a rack, and removed my pajama pants; throwing them next to Ruby's own already on the floor.

Steam was just starting to rise from the water when I stepped back in. ruby sat under the stream as it crashing into her face before running down her body. I stepped up behind her and wrapped my arms around her sides.

"So how was your night?"

"Peaceful thankfully, though Summer is still a cuddler and a kicker."

"Sounds like another red head with silver eyes I know."

"I do not."

"Well maybe kick isn't the right word, but you know what I mean."

She held her hand up like a cup, and after a moment to let the water pool in it, splashed it in my face. I moved my hands from her sides up to her shoulders. I felt tension in her shoulders and pressed my fingers into her soft skin, making a circle movement. She let out a moan that could probably be heard from outside the bathroom. Her neck went slack for a moment before snapping back to attention.

"Your muscles are so tight, you need to relax. You can't let Cider get to you, otherwise she's practically won."

"It's not just her. Work has been stressful for the last few weeks. Some dust baron wants me to make a sword that he can pass down through his family line."

"He doesn't just have his own weapon?"

"That's what makes it so bad. The jackass doesn't know how to fight, and half the things he complains about I'm sure he doesn't even know what they mean."

"How so?"

"We spent an hour arguing about if it was perfectly balanced or not."

"An hour?"

"The idiot thought you balance it at the midpoint of the blade, not next to the crossguard. I wanted to punch him in the face so hard."

"The customer is always-"

"No they're not! 'The customer is normally stupid' is what that expression should be!"

"Ok calm down. I was just trying to make a joke."

She took a deep breath, and I could feel the knots start to melt under my fingers.

"It's not like I'm short for work, I'm backed up by like thirty orders. It would really help, if you came by this weekend and helped me out a little."

"Sure. And why don't you drop this guy's order if you hate it so much?"

She let out a second breath, causing her muscles to relax even more. "As much as the idiot pisses me off, he's asking for all the bells and whistles; gold trim and decoration, fine detail, gemstones; and he's paying more than double what I would normally ask for. Plus the last time I had something as challenging as this was General Adulfus's order when I first started. The difference between this one and his, was he knew it would be a decoration and just wanted something to tie together his collection."

I reached a point that felt like I had gotten all her muscles loose enough and gave her a small pat on the side to get her up.

"Alright, out. I still need to shower and get ready."

She gave me a confused look before realizing I was still almost completely dry still. I hurried her out then went about cleaning myself finally.

:::::

I stepped into the kitchen fully clothed with my hoodie and jeans. Actually looking on it, my appearance hadn't changed much since my days at Beacon, except for my new set of armor in the closet. Ruby was in her regular work clothes, a snug pair of black jean pants and a tank top. She also had on those red arm bands summer made for her, for her birthday last year. I came up behind her and let both my hands fall on her tush while my head fell into the crock of her neck.

"Mmmm, what 'cha making?"

"Eggs, bacon, and a happy husband."

The mentioned things were true, and the smell of breakfast filled the air with its wonderful scent. She reached up for the pepper above her head, but was slightly too short to reach. I reached for it in her stead, but my hand was knocked away by her own. She immediately followed up by softly swatting at my face.

I let go and left her to get the pepper on her own. She knew what her limits were, and would ask if she needed help with something. Unfortunately that also means she doesn't like getting help if she could do it herself, even if it would be more efficient to have some help. I watched her jump on one foot trying to get it, and after a few attempts finally managed to jump high enough to get it. I heard some footsteps on the second floor and guessed Summer must have just woken up.

I fetched the cereal, milk and dishes while Ruby continued cooking. We had just finished loading our plates when she came running into the kitchen.

"Dad! Dad! I did it! I woke up every day this week before my alarm did!" She near shouted.

"What? No you didn't." I joked, feigning ignorance.

"Yes I did! Tell him mom."

I looked to her while she counted down the days. Sure enough she reached the last, and I told Summer I would get her some ice cream. She jumped for joy before scrambling into her seat while Ruby poured her a bowl of cereal.

Me and her finished our food, at the same time and I told her to go brush her teeth and get ready. While she ran up stairs I pulled over her bowl and poured myself a few extra bits to eat as well.

"Good luck with what's his face." Ruby joked, knowing why I was eating the sugar breakfast food.

"I swear I'm going to kill that kid one day" I said, taking my first bite, and instantly feeling the sugar flow through my system putting a small smile on my face.

"Well now you know how your teachers felt."

"What?"

"Oh come on. From what you've told me, he's a mirror image of you."

"I didn't sleep in class."

"You were normally so zoned out, you might as well have been."

"I didn't argue with the teacher every time they told me to do something I didn't like."

"At least he's interacting with the class."

I gave a growl in defeat as I finished the last bite of cereal and put it on the pile Rube was taking to the sink.

I walked over to the closet next to the door and pulled out my suit of armor. The breastplate and pauldrons were the same, save a few extra pieces to the first so it covered my chest fully. I had also added a salot, gauntlets and greaves among other parts over the years, via holidays and birthdays. Unless I knew I was going to need the rest of it, I normally just stick with the breastplate and pauldrons; to keep it simple.

Next, I grabbed Crocea Mors and tied it to its well worn spot on my belt. I contemplated bringing the others, but like my armor I normally left them at home. Still though a prick in the back of my head told me to bring a few of them. I tied my shortsword Speculo Mortem to my opposite side, and put Lamina Tonitrui next to it so I could easily grab either if I needed too. I looked at at my saber Ventus Dromonem which would normally go next to Lamina Tonitrui, and Gladius Viri the greatsword that fitted on my back. Having all five would probably be overkill, and decided to leave the two in the closet for next time.

The sound of metal knocking on wood came up behind me, and I turned to see Ruby limping toward me, with Crescent Rose tucked under her arm. I gave her a goodbye kiss on the lips upon her arrival.

"Be careful, ok?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to hurt them too badly." I joked, but the silence that followed was louder than anything else that could have happened.

"Jaune, please. I know you don't think it's Cinder, but can you just humor me for today?" pulling me into a small hug.

"Alright, I'll be careful." I whispered into her ear.

I was about to walk out, but decided that I couldn't leave the house with such a depressing departure.

"And besides, you have nothing to worry about," I told her as I took a step backwards, "Because I have not one, but two swords crafted by the great Ruby Arc." Pulling out Speculo Mortem as if showing it off to a stranger; making sure to flash the rose emblem on the blade near the crossguard to bring attention to it's authenticity as one of her creations.

She couldn't help but laugh as walked out of the door frame, calling out, "Seriously, be careful." just as I closed it.

It was a short wait for Summer to finally come out. Dressed in her regular black stockings and skirt, with a gray shirt. The red scarf she liked to wear flapped in the wind as she ran for the backseat of the car. Once inside I waited for her to buckle in before I turned it over.

I drove through the subdivision with relative ease, surprisingly very few cars were on the road today.

"So how are Mars and Grey? You haven't talked about them in a while." She met the two boys about two weeks ago and after the first few days of being excited about having new friends she hadn't mentioned them at all.

"They're nice, they play with me during recess, but a kid named Vang Lionheart has started being mean to us." Instantly I felt my grip tighten on the steering wheel

"He has? What's he doing?"

"He hogs the swings all recess, or goes around calling people names."

_Well at least it's just schoolyard bullying, maybe they can just work it out themselves._

"Does he have any friends?"

"No, he's mean to everyone and shoves anyone who's mean back to him. We tell the teachers, but they never see him."

_Typical. Bet that bitch Mrs. Ash would punish her too, excuse it as Summer having provoked him somehow._

"Maybe he's lonely and wants to play, but doesn't know how to ask." I said the word and made them sound genuine, just like my mom did when I was young, but like her I doubted it would fix the problem; but it was worth a try, at least it wouldn't make it worst.

"No, he's just a big meanie." I couldn't help but let out a sigh, images of Cardin entering my mind.

"Can you make me a promise?"

"What?"

"Next time you see him during recess can you ask him if he wants to play with you?"

"I don't want to!"

_I know you don't honey, but I need you to play nice till I can figure out a way to properly stop him._

"Please? I think you might be surprised how nice he can be if you give him a chance." It actually felt a little revolting to say those words aloud.

Honestly I would tell her to just punch him till he promised to be nice to everyone. Ruby would probably do the actual punching herself. A shiver went up my spine at the thought of Ruby finding out and made a mental note to not bring it up around her.

"Fine." I looked into the mirror for a moment to see her with her arms cross and her cheeks inflated into a cute pout that only Ruby could replicate.

We were almost there, so I decided to change the subject so she wouldn't start class in a sour mood.

"So how are classes?"

"They're fine. I have 'A's in every single one."

I smiled, glad that she was working so hard, before pulling to the front of the school.

"Have a nice day!" I shouted as she ran from the car, shouting, "Goodbye!" In return.

The moment she was gone, I pulled away from the school and took the fastest route to the highway. Flipping the radio on to my favorite station, I was greeted with what was becoming my new favorite song.

"**You have to prove your own worth. To friend and foe alike. This weak display just will not DOOOOOOOO!"**

I popped a small pill in my mouth as I walked aboard the airship. The second semester was just starting today, so the kids who were off campus for the week were all crowded on the airship.

"Hello Jaune."

I looked over to see Ren skillfully weaving his way through the crowded ship. it was strange how the crowd seemed to part for him, without even realizing they were doing so. His hands tucked into the opposite sleeve of his green and black hanfu as he approached. He always looked like he had a sense of purpose, even when he was just with me at the bar getting a drink after school.

"Hey Ren, how's Nora?"

"She's out on a mission, so she should be entertained for the next week or so."

The airship lifted off, and I hand to hold onto the side railing to keep myself from falling.

"I don't think those motion sickness pills work very well if they cause you to lose your sense of balance."

"It's what the doctor prescribed, and it's better than throwing up on a kid or something."

"True."

I could feel the ship starting to pick up speed, and I slid down the wall till my butt finally touched down on the floor.

"Here." I heard Ren say as he hovered his hand over my face. I could feel his aura pressing into me, but instead of pushing me back like one would expect, it felt like it was flowing into me. He moved it to the side of my head, next to my ear for a moment before moving it back. It only took a few seconds, but by the time he was done I felt much better.

"You need to show me how to do that trick."

"Ancient family secret."

"Your family suffers from motion sickness?"

"No, but rebalancing your ear fluids is simple when you know what to do."

"I'll take your word for it."

I could feel my sense of balance had returned to me and with a little help from Ren got to my feet.

"Excited for the new semester?" I asked, wanting to start some proper conversation.

"I have been please with my student's growth over the last few months. I am looking forward to seeing they grow even more in the coming months."

"Well you got it easy. Fourth and third year 'Combat Training' sounds like a piece of cake."

"From what I hear from your students, they enjoy your 'Logistics' class."

"I have to bribe them with soda and cookies most of the time. If not for that I'm sure they would treat it just like all their other lecture classes."

"Sounds like our school days doesn't it." He said chuckling to himself.

"Ruby made a similar comment today."

"Oh right you have Kanel today."

"Kind of hoping grimm attack the city or something."

"I doubt you'll get that lucky" He waved his hand so we could walk through the airship together.

I took a few steps when the intercom stated we were only five minutes from arrival. A number of students most of who I recognized said hellos to us while we neared the exit door.

"Also Ren, how is your schedule this week?"

"I was planning to go enjoy a night on the town, since Nora is gone. Why? Do you require me for something?"

"Yeah, can you keep yourself on ready for the next few days?"

"What is the strife?" He eyes narrowing quizzically, and his voice filled with concern.

"Someone broke into Summer's room and left a threat for Ruby."

His eyes flashed with worry, but he quickly composed himself as the door to the airship opened.

"Do you know who your adversary is?" He asked as we walked onto to the cobblestone pathway on our way to Beacon.

"I still reserve some doubt, but Ruby believes it was Cinder."

"That thesis is very unlikely. Cinder was sentenced to life in a maximum security prison."

"That's how I feel, but Ruby seems convinced."

"Very well, I will keep myself ready to assist at a moment's notice if I'm needed."

"Thanks Ren, I'm glad we can count on you."

"Might I suggest you speak to Ozpin? He might be able to provide additional assistance, or maybe confirmation as to Cinder's being."

"I was planning to do that after school. Right now we need to hurry if we want to get to our classes on time."

He raised his eyebrow before gazing at the clock on Ozpin's tower.

"Yes, lets." He said, cracking a small smile.

He started running almost full speed, while I made chase through Beacon's grounds. Dodging through students, who gave "Good Morning Professors" if they recognized us. I stopped in front of my classroom to see it was only half full so far. Ren gave a quick wave back as he kept going, heading toward the main building where the sparring arena was.

I looked outside the window, to take in the view and observe the weather for later, before retreating inside my classroom. In the distance could see a large black cloud on the horizon, still out at sea, and clearly making it's way toward Vale. Seeing it filled me with an ominous feeling, and I felt I would be needing Ren's help sooner rather then later.

**Sorry for not updating anything lately. I have finals and other crap going on, so almost all my writing has come to a stand still. I'll keep working, but I can't promise you'll see anything for a bit. I'll let you know though when I'm done and production can start full swing. If you just got to get more of my stuff, you can go over to Overpowered by Challos. I'm his cowriter, I put just as much my own into the story as he does, and though I'm technically not the cowriter for Gifts of War, I'm pretty much am too. (He doesn't want to admit it though.)**

**Thanks to Challos for editing, cheers.**

**Review + Follow; end of chapter pandering here.**


	4. Jaune II

Five minutes. Five minutes of silence with fifteen different pairs of eyes on me, while we waited for the last pair of eyes to arrive.

"Mr. Beach."

"Y-y-yes Profess-ssor Ar-Arc?" His already bad stuttering seeming to be worst today.

"Where is your partner Kanel?"

"He- He was in the bathroom- oom and t- told us he would catch u- up."

I let out a sigh, and pulled out my scroll. I was about to send a message to Ms. Goodwitch to see if he was ditching or there was an actual problem. While I was double checking the message for spelling I heard the door open.

Kanel stood there huffing and puffing. Well pretending to be tired at least. I could see the small unconscious movements your body makes, or the lack of movements in this case. He was way too steady for someone that was supposedly out of breath.

"Mr. Nos, care to explain why you're late?"

"Sorry Professor, I was having an epic battle in the restroom, but I hurried here as fast as I could when I finished."

"You could at least put some effort into it."

"Sir?" He asked confused by my meaning.

"I am a father of a six year old, and she's a far better liar than you. So you'll have to try better than that to get past me."

Realizing he was caught, he completely ended the charade. His hands found their way to their usual spots in his pockets as he walked up the steps along the side of the room to his unofficial seat in the back.

I glared at him the whole time he made his ascent. Students like him frustrated me to no end. They seem to think just because they can cut down a pack of beowolves or something they don't need to learn the knowledge part of it. What I taught saves lives; other people's and their own.

"Alright class, turn to pages 673. We'll do a quick review of naval navigation from last semester before moving on."

I waited for them to turned to the page eyeing Kanel as he lazily took his time going one page at a time. When the rest of the class arrived, I sighed and went on ahead.

"So last semester we left off with the history of naval navigation and it's importance. Kanel, would you be so kind as to tell the class what navigational tools were developed pre, and early great war?" Looking to the slacker I called him out, knowing he couldn't answer.

"Um. The magnetic compasses and, um, Chronometers?" vastly unsure about the second part of his answer.

"Maybe you should read the last chapter to ensure everything sinks in."

He grumbled and mumbled ok, before letting his head fall into his hand while he gazed at his book absentmindedly. I started tapping my foot, hoping he would notice, but he needed the student next to him to nudge him back into reality, before he noticed me.

"Wait, you mean right now?"

"For the whole class. I'm sure some might be a little sketchy on the details since break too."

He groaned and stood while reading the the first page of the section. I didn't pay him much mind while he read. I knew the information and he knew how to read contrary to my doubts some days. When he finished he sat back down, clearly annoyed by all the hoops I was making him jump through.

"Alright, as Mr. Nos, pointed out an early detriment to long range naval navigation was scurvy. Till then, most nations used the currents and coast to navigate."

I pulled out a laser pointer and aimed at the far wall with a huge map along it before continuing.

"The Mantle Current starts south of Atlas and travels down all the way past Vale then enters the Vytal Bay following the coast around to Vacuo, it then warms up as it passes the desert and heads back up toward the entrance of the bay. Naturally it's very hard to sail against the current so incoming trade was limited to summer time, when the differences in temperature were less extreme and thus the current less powerful."

"Before the Great War here," adjusting my laser to point to the peninsula just north of Vale at the other side of the bay entrance, "Was the sight of a large trade center called Viz."

"Not only did it have a narrow mountain pass separating it from the rest of the continent, it was also where most traders landed when they reached the end of the current. As such it served as a major port for much of the winter, and for those brave enough one could travel up the content on foot with a dugout canoe and then sail across to atlas once they were far enough north to avoid the current, then sail back down to Viz in time for summer. Provided they had protection from a hired blade or hunter of course."

"One of the deciding factors of the great war was actually the destruction of Viz. Seeing it's incredible strategic importance. Atlas used its superior navy to capture the port. With long beach heads and deep coastal waters, it was the perfect place to anchor their mighty dreadnought battleships. But what really gave them the advantage was the Battle of the Bay. I know, I know; historians aren't exactly known to being the most creative of people." Pausing for the class to laugh for a moment, and for me to take survey on who was paying attention.

Kanel looked like, if he wasn't asleep yet he would be soon. A few other students looked like they were day dreaming or doodling on their papers, and I made note of every single one.

"Though the Atlesian navy had superior armor and weaponry compared to the Vytal allies. They didn't have the speed to catch them, and spreading their forces too thin in an attempt to do so would leave the individual ships vulnerable to the power of the two combined fleets. Control of the bay was still extremely important as without it, Atlas's troops on Vytal would be cut off from supplies and support. So in a daring move 'Grand Admiral William the Map Maker' took half the fleet north to sail through the Ulna Straights, about three thousand miles west of Atlas. Using new navigation techniques, as well as about three months of supplies, including fruits captured from Viz, they sailed into what was at the time, completely uncharted waters.

As we mentioned scurvy was a major problem for early navigators. With Atlas being so far north, they had little access to fruit, but with the capture of Viz they could afford to supply their navies. As such the Admiral was able to earn permission to make the exploration mission. Supposedly the Admiral had many doubters within the Atlesian court. In the end the king offered to let him perform the mission after much convincing not only from crew volunteering to partake, but also the vouching of doctors and other navagationalists; also on the condition that if he does it and fails, his family would suffer the consequences."

"Guided by a chronometer, compass, and other newly invented instruments, they came around Drake's Head and sailed south into the western mouth of the bay within three weeks. Cornered and taken completely by surprise, the Vytal fleets were surrounded and attacked from both flanks at the same time, thanks to coordination between the fleets via the straight key and what we call morse code.

This was both the largest and last naval ship battle, with the Atlesians capturing 6 ships, and sinking twenty-four others, including the infamous Vacuon 'Goliath' heavy dreadnought."

A few students perked up at the mention of the Goliath, and to hold their interest I went into the mentioned ship a little and how it performed during the battle; despite not being important to the lesson. I mentioned how it was responsible for the sinking of four of the five Atlesian ships destroyed during the battle, and how it destroyed it's second target in a single volley. It survived bombardment from ten other dreadnoughts for almost an hour before all its guns were destroyed and the crew decided to abandon ship and scuttle the vessel to prevent the Atlesian's from capturing it.

"By the end of the war through Vale, unlike the other kingdoms with more traditional war mindsets, were heavily invested in the concept of the airplane and had taken it from its primitive roots in the 'Early Period' of Great War into fully functioning war machines by the end of the 'High period' and was proving itself to be mightier than the ship. With the creation of the 'Kaiser' class war plane, the Atlesian court found their naval superiority to be meaningless. In the final days of the war the Grand Kaiser, Thunder Bird and the Thunder Lance were dispatched along with much of the Vale air force; to support the assault at 'Lookout Point' to push the Atlesians off the mainland, and to attack Viz directly taking away their major forward base.

After four hours of consistent attack, Viz was reduced to a burning ruin. Without any place to dock and resupply, Admiral William ordered a full retreat and later convinced the last king of Atlas to sign a white peace with the Vytal allies."

"Seeing the complete domination of the seas through airpower not ships. William started immediate refitting of his fleet and funneled Atlas's top scientists near unlimited resources through his command to achieve one goal: turn the Atlesian fleet into what would be called in forty years, after the signing of the white peace, the Atlesian Air Fleet."

The bell rung, causing a few kids to snap to attention, while others rushed to pack up so they could take off to wherever they were going.

"I think that's a good point to leave off at. We shall be starting Aerial logistics next week before we move on into cross navigation, till the end of the year. So I want you all to read ahead to page 725 by next week, other then that enjoy your week."

The first students started to leave the room when I called out to one of them in particular.

"Mr. Nos, could you stay behind for a few minutes? I would like to speak to you."

"I would rather not."

"Alright how about this. You _will_ be staying behind for a few minutes so I can speak to you." Making sure he knew it wasn't a choice.

The class emptied with record speed. His team wanting to stay behind, but I told them to go ahead. After a moment they left, their leader looking back at Kanel, no doubt guessing he was going to be getting in trouble.

I was about to start scorning him about how his behavior was unacceptable. His lack of respect was also insulting to both me and the school itself. I could tolerate someone having a bad day, but only if that was once in a while. Fortunately for him my scroll beeped. I pulled out the handheld and took note of the number.

_Mrs. Amber? Why is she calling?_

"Hello Mr. Arc?"

"Speaking."

"I apologize for the interruption. I know you're probably in the middle of class, but I haven't been able to get ahold of your wife."

I waved Kanel off, but made sure he knew we'd finish this later.

"It's alright, I finished just before you called. What is this about?"

"I'm afraid Summer was caught hitting a fellow student. I currently have her in the office, but I would like to have a parent come talk to her too."

"Alright sure. I'll be there as soon as I can"

"Thank you, I apologize for interrupting your day."

"Again it's no problem. I'll be there in a bit."

"Thank you, I'll have her do her homework while she waits."

I ended the call wondering to myself how the situation could have spiraled to such a point. I could guess that it was Vang no doubt. Wouldn't be surprised if that bitch Ash or Shale had something to do with this.

_So Summer would have asked Vang to play like I asked her to. Now unless the kid was a total ass he would have told her to go away, and I doubt he would be that kind of kid; normally bullies that pick on lots of people are more mild to their victims than a bully who focuses on a single person or group._

I paused my train of thought when I noticed a bullhead being prepped for take off. I ran over and asked what way they were going.

"South west, there is a small fishing village that needs some help with some ocean grimm." The student commented.

"I need a ride to the city, do you mind dropping me off."

"I don't see why not." The pilot commented from his seat, "But you're going to have to jump, we're already a few minutes late on take off."

I offered to help the students load up their equipment to speed up the process. Take off was fast and smooth, but that didn't change my stomach's opinion on the matter.

"Mr. Arc?"

"Can you hand me an airsickness bag?"

:::::

It's strange how I could feel sick on a plane or train, but didn't feel the slightest bit queasy when I was in a car or free falling.

I opened my hands up to stabilized my fall as I rapidly descended through the cloud line. I looked about looking for my target. The school was still a bit ahead of me, and I adjusted my descent so I would slowly make my way toward it.

Wind stung my eyes and face as I raced through the air. The descent was fast and within the minute I was nearing the ground. I curled up into a ball and rolled my body forward. Even with my eyes closed I could see my white aura glowing bright enough to pierce my eyelids. The impact was soft, but the force of being repelled by the dirt pushed my back in a way it's not normally intended to bend.

The bounce quickly repeated, but to not the same height and I finally came to a stop after a few extra bumps.

"HOLY GRIMMBANE!" Someone shouted from nearby.

I felt a couple people come over and help me off the ground. Many of them had panic in their eyes, no doubt seeing a person fall from the sky wasn't a normal sight for them.

"Don't worry I'm fine," I assured them. Save a bad crick in my back I was fine. Probably would bruise later, but for now I focused on running the last few blocks to Summer's school.

The office was the same as it was always. Nice mahogany desk, with a nice coat of polish, bookshelves filled with different colorful novels; many I believed to be about psychology. Summer was sitting on one of the two seats working on what I guessed was her homework.

"Sorry I took so long. I hitched a ride on a bullhead with some hunters going out on a mission and had to run a few blocks after I jumped." I apologized, wiping some dirt from my pants before fully entering her office.

"It's no problem Mr. Arc. Honestly you're here much sooner than I expected."

"Oh, that's good. So what happened?" I asked, curious as to what happened to end with this result.

"Sure let me call up Mrs. Ash."

_Typical she'd be involved._

I looked over to Summer, but she wasn't smiling like I expected. Actually she seemed to be trying to distance herself. Clearly she understood she did something wrong, and was afraid of what would happen to her. I was glad that she had the ability to recognize that fact.

The handle turned behind me and Mrs. Ash entered the office, taking a place standing beside Mrs. Amber's desk.

"Thank you Mrs. Ash, could you explain to Mr. Arc what happened?"

"I saw you daughter hitting another student. Not just that, but I saw her do it with aura. Vang, the boy she punched is fine, just a minor concussion."

"Why did you punch him?" I asked, turning to Summer so she could tell me with her own words.

"She-" I cut her off before she started; I didn't care for her view, I wanted Summer's.

I leaned in close to look her in the eye. Not that I would have thought she would lie, but she knew how much it hurt to tell the truth at times and to me that would be punishment enough if she had a good enough reason to do it.

"He was bullying another kid. I told him to stop then he pushed me. I pushed him back, knocking him on the ground. He then threw some dirt at my face and slapped me. Then I punched him."

_Wow, now I feel inadequate. Only a third of my age and she already has more guts than I had against Cardin._

I knew the answer, but I felt I needed to ask anyways, "Did you do what I asked you in the car?"

She nodded yes and also explained that apparently he was still being mean to her even after trying to be nice. I put my hand on her head and ruffled up her hair just a little, but she didn't seem to notice. I let her know I wasn't mad with a smile.

"Good job, sticking up for someone who couldn't protect themselves."

"Mr. Arc! You should not be encouraging this behavior." Mrs. Ash near yelled from behind me.

"Why not? In four years she'll be in Signal so she'll have to hit people during sparring."

"You think she'll be at Signal. How do you know she want's to be a huntress when she grows up?"

I turned to Summer, and let her answer the question for me. I felt a swell of pride build up in me as she explained why she wanted to be a huntress. I knew Ruby would be overly excited about the answer too.

"There you have it." I pridefully stated.

"You and Mrs. Arc are a terrible influence on her. You are driving her to become a violent, self centered and-"

"Mrs. Ash! That is highly inappropriate and unprofessional." Mrs. Amber interrupted.

"Don't worry, we'll be leaving." I waved it off, and took Summer's hand.

"You can't just let her go unpunished-"

"Mrs. Ash!" Mrs. Amber said, cutting her off for the second time, "But she is right. It's fine if she wants to be a huntress Mr. Arc, but might I remind you hitting isn't tolerated in _this_ school."

"Alright. Summer, do you promise not to hit anyone."

"Yes."

"Alright, there you go. Next time she hits someone you can just say she broke her promise."

Mrs. Amber gave me a nod, before motioning her hand in approval for us to leave. During the moment Summer was looking away I swiftly gave Mrs. Ash the finger before closing the door.

"So now what?" Summer asked, tightening her grip slightly in my hand.

"I still owe you some ice cream don't I?" I gave her a smile she mirrored, "Race you there!"

"**No running in the halls!"** I heard one of the teachers yell.

The ice cream shop was just across the street from the school. I told Summer she could get anything she wanted.

"Extra large cookie dough flurry please."

I chuckled and told them to get a large instead.

"You said you would let me get any size!" She complained.

"If you can eat a whole large, I'll get you an extra large." I promised.

I ordered a mint for myself while they prepared Summer's dessert. A minute later they handed it to me, and I passed it down to her.

"Go wait by the bench over there ok?"

She nodded and took her treat as she skipped along the asphalt. When I was given my own cup, I thanked the lady and walked over to where Summer was happily eating her food. I watched her quickly shoveled the ice cream in her mouth, barely taking the time to enjoy the flavor. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"What?"

"Nothing, go ahead and keep eating." I assured her, hoping I hadn't ruined my fun.

Sure enough she kept shoveling it down and I saw her eyes go wide. I laughed harder as she realized what was happening too.

"Ow, brainfreeze."

I had to put down my own cup to keep it from spilling as I laughed.

"It's not funny, ow."

"Put your thumb on the roof of your mouth, it'll help a little." I managed to squeeze between my chuckling. I gave her a moment to settle the pain while I checked the time. It was only two thirty, so we should probably start heading home.

"Come on Summer, let's go."

"But I'm not done yet." she complained

"Don't worry, I'll get you a second one, but we should head home now since we need to walk."

"Why?"

"Dad took a bullhead, so the car is still at Beacon; but that does mean you get to see Uncle Ren today."

She cheered with joy before following on my heels back to the stand. I ordered up a medium while she finished off what was left of her current cup. I gave her, her second serving then walked her away down the street. I gave my back a small stretch; the crick was coming back and had a very irritating pain just out of reach.

I watched Summer run ahead, I was about to call her back because she missed the turn. I stopped when I realized what she was doing and let her drop her stuff in a garbage can, and I called her over so we could take a shorter route.

The alley was empty. Actually looked like someone had gone through and cleaned it earlier that day. Summer walked closer to me as we made our way down. I felt like I was being watched. My gaze darted around looking for the source. My back started to burn, and it took me a moment to realize, it wasn't from my fall earlier. It was because I was under attack!

"Look out!" I shouted, panicked shoving Summer to the side before I felt something impact with my head.

I felt myself fall to the ground, but there was a pain in my head and a ringing in my ears that disoriented me to what was happening. I thought I heard a voice, but the ringing in my ears diluted the sound. A second hit smashed right into my face, my aura was no doubt protecting me from anything too permanent, but the blow still sent me back to the ground.

I let out a soft groan of pain, as I once more tried to stand. The ringing faded and the glow of my aura dimmed for a moment so I could actually see what was happening. All I saw was a ball of flame racing toward me. I was prepared this time so the blow didn't hit as hard as the other two, but three direct blows to the head was certainly putting a massive strain on my aura.

I jumped to my feet just in time to see the fourth attack coming. I braced for it, but before It could start its flight I heard Summer shout "NO!" before running between me and the attacker. Her body glowed a soft red as she threw her arms up to stop the attack.

Before I could move to help, she let out a loud scream in pain as the attack smashed into her face sending her to the ground.

"SUMMER!" I shouted as I dove toward her, keeping her from falling onto the hard pavement.

"Summer are you ok?" I didn't need to ask, it was just reflex.

I examined her face. the whole left side was severely burned, from her forehead along her nose and just short of her mouth. She needed to get to a hospital ASAP, but I doubt I could make that happen. I looked up at my attacker, a rage I hadn't felt in years building in me.

"Oops, sorry about that. I was hoping to do that later, but I guess it can't be helped." The raven haired women taunted as she strutted forward.

"Cinder. You should be glad it's only me, Ruby would cut you apart piece by piece till you were begging her to kill you." I growled, drawing Crocea Mors from it's scabbard; my shield folded out with a soft snapping sound and I was ready to fight.

"Oh, scary." she taunted, another pair of fiery spheres coming to life in her palms.

I charged forward, shield held in front to ward off any incoming attacks. Her eyes widened slightly, probably by the speed of my assault as I closed in. I made a quick lunge, keeping my shield close to my chest as I let my momentum carry me an extra few inches.

Cinder took a half step to the side, slapping away my blade. A small burst of fire erupted from her hand when she made contact with the steel. The force threw my hand forward, and to keep balance I had to show my back to her for a moment. I summoned my aura at full force, hoping to blind her before she could strike. I managed to turn around without harm, and the tactic seemed to work as, her hand was covering her eyes slightly, while the other hung over head like she was about to go for the attack.

"Smart of you to step aside, otherwise you'd currently be pulling yourself out of that wall over there," I commented, trying to deter her from trying something like that again.

"Foolish boy, I've been fighting insects like you since before you were born. I think your wife is a good example of my abilities," Cinder taunted.

I shouldn't have let it get to me, but it did. I charged her again, this time I kept my blade back as I closed in. She remained in a balanced stance as I approached. With lightning speed I pulled Speculo Mortem from it's scabbard on my opposite waist and lashed out with it. The shield slowed my swing down, and she managed to jump back to avoid the shorter blade. Crocea Mors followed up with an uppercut slash, and I managed to catch her before she could land on her feet.

I could feel the damage the blow did to her. On top of the fact she was sent a good fifteen feet down the alley way. I held back, not wanting to get cocky and rush into a potential feint. She lashed out at the air defensively, proving myself right as she got up.

"Alright I'll admit that was a good move. Perhaps you're not as hopeless as last time. But unfortunately, that little trick won't work a second time."

I humphed in reply and returned my short sword to its scabbard before switching out to Lamina Tonitrui. The blade was an inch longer than Mors, but the new trick was that it was also a gun.

Cinder threw a newly created fireball at my head. It harmlessly splashed along my shield and I humphed again, hoping to provoke her. Another attack aimed low was easily dodged, and my blade cut cleanly through a third, letting the embers harmlessly disperse around me. I let my shield snap closed as I moved in, wanting to make sure each attack was quick and precise.

She threw another attack, once more I easily slashed my blade neutralizing the threat. I came in with an overhead swing. Cinder smirked as I came in. Instantly a glass blade formed in her hands just in time to stop my sword at the start of it's swing. She twisted in, so her back was to my chest so I couldn't get a good swing at her with my other sword. Another blade, a wicked looking dagger, formed in her free hand and she brought it around backhand style right into my shoulder as I tried to move away. I felt my aura take another massive hit as the glass tip shattered on my skin, between my armor and pauldrons.

I stumbled back a step, while she safely moved away, knowing the force she delivered would keep me from swinging my arm in any way that could threaten her for that moment. Lamina Tonitrui collapsed on itself. the blade folded up and tucked underneath while the muzzle sprouted from the center. All in on motion the blade shifted its form and was pointing dead on at Cinder.

I fired a few rounds, the raven haired women easily blocking each shot with ease. She ducked underneath the last one, and spun around dramatically into a crouch. A bow with three arrows pulled back took aim at me. I snapped my shield open just in time to intercept the shot going right for my head. The second one hit me in my elbow, causing my shield to go wide, away from my front. while the third hit me in the ankle. My aura held strong, but I could sense it was getting low, and the force knocked my foot back causing me to fall to a knee.

I threw my hands forward to keep myself from falling on my face. I looked up to see her waving her arms about randomly. The moment I recognized what she was doing she pulled them close to her center and clutched them into fist. My aura burned on both sides, and I couldn't help but look to my left to see a black and orange whirlpool on the brick wall on the side of the street. Before I could react a torrent of flame erupted from it, slamming into me with a lethal amount of force. I met the same force behind me as the blast of fire crushed me between the two.

I yelled in pain as the flames burned at my aura. The intense heat causing my sense to go into an overload of pain. When it stopped the air itself felt like iced water on my skin. All my energy was siphoned to keep my aura up. I fell to my hands, almost unable to keep myself up. I felt something strike the side of my head causing me to fall over. I looked up to see Cinder looking down, a ball of flame in her hand as she smirked down at me.

"Don't die just yet. I still need you for a little bit longer."

The ball of flame consumed my vision as its blinding white light smashed into my face. After that it was just dark.

**Sorry for the delay. Real life and shit. Thanks for reading though, next time we're going to learn some things. Till then you'll just have to wait and see, Thanks to /u/Spartacus400 for editing. Also no spoilers buddy.**

**Also if you like the AU so far "****The Heart of a Huntress is What's Inside Me" is Weiss's story in it, takes place years before Last Spark so you don't need to worry about spoilers or anything.**

**Review+ Follow; till next time cheers.**


	5. Ruby I

I massaged my leg trying to get the pain to stop. I had no clue why it hurt so badly today. Summer must have kicked it or something while we were sleeping. Jaune did a good job as always with those magic fingers of his, shame the pain in my leg specifically came back briefly after he removed them. After a few minutes, I looked over to the clock to check the time. Summer would be up soon, so I left my leg alone while I got up.

I grabbed the first pair of clothes I could find, in this case a pair of black jeans, and a tank top like the one I had worn to bed. After a little struggle between my bad leg and my panties, I finally pulled on my regular casual clothes and grabbed my leg brace. I tucked Crescent Rose under my arm to support myself while I limped my way down the hall and the stairs.

I set the brace and crutch next to my usual seat then made my way to the fridge. I felt like bacon today. Some cheese and eggs sounded nice too. It was Friday, so Summer got to pick what she wanted to eat, and I doubted a healthy breakfest was on that list.

The water upstairs stopped as I put the pans over the stove. I placed the food on them as soon as they got hot enough. The bacon and eggs sizzled as they made contact with the warm surface. The sound of the cooking food rang through my ears and made my mouth start to water.

I felt a pair of hands on my butt, which caused me to jump slightly. Jaune's head gently rest on my shoulder.

"Mmmm, what 'cha making?" He asked, giving my rear a light squeeze.

"Eggs, bacon, and a happy husband," I said, ignoring the gesture knowing he was just trying to have some fun.

The eggs themselves were almost done, and I reached for the pepper on the overhead shelf. I was a little short and even on my tip toes couldn't get it. I saw Jaune's hand snaking up along the back of mine. Quickly I swatted at his face making him lean back to avoid it, telling him "I got it," with enough attitude so he knew it wasn't up for debate.

He was my husband, not my babysitter. If I couldn't do it, I would ask for help, but if I could I didn't want people treating me like some helpless little girl. Thankfully Jaune didn't push the subject and backed off to let me do it.

Though the problem at hand was I still couldn't reach the pepper. I hopped on my good leg trying to get a few inches. I could have kicked off and closed the distance easily, the problem was restraining myself enough so I didn't go through the ceiling at the same time, having only one leg made that even harder. I hopped again, my finger grazing the bottom of the glass container. Again, this time being a little shorter then the second. The fourth time I managed to get high enough to pull it down. I landed with ease, and pulled the eggs off the stove.

I was flipping the bacon over, making sure it was cooked well on both sides when I heard a pair of feet hit the floor above. With the bacon done I brought them and the eggs over and started loading up our plates. Jaune took his regular chair after collecting the milk and cereal that we both knew Summer would want; and on cue Summer could be heard practically running down the stairs as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Dad! Dad! I did it! I woke up every day this week before my alarm did!" She exclaimed, practically jumping for joy.

"What? No you didn't."

"Yes I did! Tell him mom." Her excitement was infectious, and I couldn't help but break into a smile as I named off days playing along with Jaune's joke.

"Huh, I guess that means I have to share my ice cream with you," Jaune paused before adding, "After school of course." Summer was really on the ball when it came to things she really wanted. I have no doubt she would have asked for some ice cream now if he didn't add that last part.

"Yay!" She shouted climbing into her chair to start eating.

I poured her a bowl, not quite trusting her ability to not spill the milk yet. While I poured the milk, she turned the box around so Pyrrha's face was toward her. Breakfast was uncharacteristically quiet and short. I thought of sparking some kind of conversation, but nothing came to mind.

When Summer finished her breakfast, Jaune told her to go upstairs and get ready. He immediately poured himself a bowl of "Pumpkin Pete's" the moment she turned around to head upstairs.

"Good luck with what's his face," I mocked, knowing exactly why he was indulging himself into the sugary food.

"I swear I'm going to kill that kid one day," he said as he deposited a spoon full of the flakes into his mouth

"Well now you know how your teachers felt," I continued, though I remembered I was in the same boat for my first and third years.

A shiver went up my spine at the tone Professor Port had when he called everyone out during finals, and basing it completely off what we weren't paying attention to.

"_What! You Can't do that!"_

"_Why of course I can dear Miss Rose, as a professor of this fine academy it is my duty to ensure every student leaves my class with the skills needed to not just succeed, but thrive out in the world. As such, I have gone ahead and customize each of your finals to subjects I feel you've been… 'lacking' in, so now we're going to find out just how VIGILANT you were."_

I returned from my quick flash back and shivered of the feeling while Jaune finished his first mouthful.

"What?" Jaune scowled

"Oh come on. From what you've told me, he's a mirror image of you," I smirked

"I didn't sleep in class," he said while shovelling another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"You were normally so zoned out, you might as well have been," I reminded.

"_I_ didn't argue with the teacher every time they told me to do something I didn't like."

"At least he's interacting with the class."

He let out a growl in defeat while finishing off his cereal. I took his bowl and put it on the pile before loading them up in sink to be washed later. I sat back down in my seat and rubbed my leg for a moment, before getting up and grabbing Crescent Rose to help me limp over to the door.

Jaune finished putting his gear on for the day when I walked over. He tightened one last strap on his waist before pulling me into a small embrace. I reached my lips out to meet his and gave him a small kiss before separating.

"Be careful ok?" I looked up at his face.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to hurt them too badly," he joked.

I let the silence hold, so he knew just how serious I was. When I felt he got the message I continued.

"Jaune, please. I know you don't think it's Cinder, but can you just humor me for today?" I said before holding him a little tighter to try and really drive the message home.

"Alright, I'll be careful," he whispered into my ear, before we separated for good. He was about to walk out, but opened the door and turned back to me.

"And besides, you have nothing to worry about, because I have not one, but two swords crafted by the great Ruby Arc," he joked as he stopped under the door frame.

He pulled one of the blades partly from its sheath, then spent a moment flashing the flat of the blade at me trying to draw attention to the engraved rose near the cross guard. I couldn't help but chuckle at his optimism, it was strangely infectious.

"Seriously, be careful," I called out to him as he stepped out and closed the door.

I looked over at a mirror on the wall and did a quick check up on my face and hair. It was the same style I've always had since I was a child, save those few months in my third year after my leg got scarred and I turned into a rebellious emo bitch. I set Crescent Rose on the wall next to me while I straightened a few stray sidelocks. I grabbed a hair tie from the dish at the base of the mirror and pulled the longer hair in the back through. The tie served more to keep my hair away from the hot forge rather than to make a pony tail.

I heard Summer once more running through the house, back down the stairs. I turned to face her just in time as she jumped the last three steps to land on the floor. She was already in front of me before I could even start to get down. I managed to do it, though without Crescent Rose to prop myself on, my leg started screaming in pain. I could feel myself falling off balance and quickly pulled my bad leg back so the pressure wasn't on the actual joint that caused me so much pain.

I eyed her hair. She tried to mimic my hairstyle, save the longer crown hair although she put so much effort into it, her hair didn't exactly look right. I unconsciously ran my fingers through it, adjusting a few locks so it matched mine better; fully knowing it would annoy her. Sure enough she realized what I was doing and let out a soft whine while backing away and pushing my arm from her hair.

I smiled, getting my petty amusement at her expense. I asked for her teeth and she gave me the biggest smile she could manage. Her breath smelt of strawberries so I assumed they were clean. I nodded in approval and she stepped forward to bring me into a hug. While we held each other I carefully ran my arms down her sides to pull her shirt straight, though she didn't seem to even notice.

I pulled back from the hug, but didn't break my hold. She looked up at me as my lips charged head on toward her face. I nailed her in the eye like I normally did. I played with her for a moment, over acting the kiss till she let out a small giggle.

She pulled away, breaking my hug. She started to walk toward the door, but when her back was to me I pulled her back. I protectively pulled her close so she was firmly within my grasp. Common sense and mother's intuition were both telling me that if she stepped out that door something bad would happen. She turned around in my arms and returned the hug with equal force.

Even though she was six and I doubted her aura could hold up for a single hit, I felt reassured by her hug. I let out a deeper breath before whispering "Please be careful," in her ear. I finally worked up the courage to let her go. Even though everything was telling me to make her stay home and protect her, I couldn't. If I completely stopped my life just because Cinder was looking for revenge she would have already won.

Summer didn't run off for the car, like I expected her to. Instead she took only half a step back before standing on her toes to put a kiss on my lips.

She called out "I will!" as she went. Her insignia on her chest and on the tail of her scarf let me know that I made the right choice as she ran for the door. Two crescents like Jaune's; she said the top one represented the moon, while the lower one had three lines spaced out, passing under the first arc a little to represent the sun coming out from over the horizon. Both crescents' points ended along another arc going the opposite direction meant to represent Remanent. I doubted even she realized just how symbolistic the insignia she made for herself was.

I stood as she closed the door behind her and let out a deep breath. The house was so big and empty now; was actually kind of depressing. The clock informed me I only had about ten minutes till the bus would arrive. I limped over to my seat at the table and went about fitting my leg brace on. It fit over my thigh and calf. I put the bend at a usable angle so I could still stand on my toes with it. It didn't stop the pain, but it helped reduce it and kept my knee from giving out underneath me. I still had Crescent Rose under my arm as I made my way up stairs. I grabbed everything I would need for the day before locking up the house and walking to the bus stop just at the corner.

Our neighbor Mr. Rock came out and kept me company while I waited for the bus. He'd been living next door since before I was even born and was always so nice and polite. The bus finally parked in front of the bench, and Mr. Rock was kind enough to help me aboard. We wished each other to have a nice day before he stepped down and the door closed behind him.

The bus took me to the edge of town. I walked the extra block to reach the forge before opening the door. My apprentices were already going about lighting the forge and getting everything ready. Most were kids from Signal working internships in exchange for learning from me.

I limped over to the corner that had been designated as my desk; only because it was the one I randomly put some papers on then continued to pile on. A few of the kids offered me hellos and were repaid with a wave and smile.

"Um, Miss Arc?"

I had just taken my seat when I saw my Signal first year Voda. I held up a finger to wait for a moment while I organized my papers. I was really behind on my work, and despite the interns' help, I was going to have to work extra hard to make sure the ones that were due soon would be ready. I made a small pile out of the ones I knew I needed to do today, and slipped a few extra orders underneath just in case I finished early. When I was done I set them aside and looked up at the young twelve year old.

"Um, Mrs. Arc. I was wondering if you, would. I mean, I was hoping if you could. Um I mean-"

I was getting what could only be described as a disturbing amount of glee from his struggle. After listening to him stumble over the start of his question for the fourth time I finally stopped him and went about helping get it out.

"Alright I get it, you're saying please, so thank you for your manners, but let's move along what do you want."

"I was hoping-"

"Again I get it, you're saying please. Now think of the question you want to ask me, then take out the please part, and tell me what the first word is in that question."

He thought for a moment to himself before answering "I."

"Alright, next single word to describe what you want."

"Um, you."

"You want me… I'm assuming _to_?"

"Help."

"Who?"

"Me."

"Alright so you want me to help you with? What?"

"Make a weapon for next semester."

I gave him a few claps before agreeing to help him. Most kids were expected to move on from basic weapons like swords and spears and forge their weapons by the end of their first semester or early in the second. Students were flat out required to have one for their second year. Signal still had another week until their second semester started, so I guessed he wanted to get ahead of the crowd.

"Now I don't think I'll have time today, but if you want to come by tomorrow or so I'd be more than happy to help."

"Thank you Mrs. Arc!" He said excitedly before running back to his workplace and maintaining the furnace and other equipment.

I watched him go for a moment before reaching for my heavy work gloves and goggles in the corner of the table. I threw on my black apron with my rose decal in red on the front. A last minute check to make sure my hair wouldn't get singed off, and I was fully prepared before I walked toward the main area.

My oldest student, Albin, was carefully hammering out small pieces for his own weapon. He was hoping to get into Beacon next year and had been obsessively working on his pickaxe for this whole year in preparation for the entry exam. He would often ask me for tips and such, but I always had to disappoint him by saying I didn't have to take the exam or jump through all the other hoops everyone else had to in order to gain admittance.

I dropped a few orders on the workbench he used. Most stuff I needed to do, because it required a higher degree of skill only a full time smith could achieve, but more generic things I passed off to the apprentices. I handed out a few more to the only girl of the four Kivi, then Niebo, who had only recently been promoted to journeymen and allowed to actually start smithing. He got some simple work, just random bits and ends for an assortment of things that I didn't care to know what for.

I limped over to my anvil next to the large furnace currently being manned by Voda. After a quick check of the temperature and my tools, I found them each in appropriate condition. I smiled in approval at him before going back to my place. Normally I prefered to stand when I was working an anvil, but my leg was bothering me too much today. Voda went ahead and collected a high stool for me and I took a seat, high enough to deliver enough force on the metal.

First on the pile was the blade for a backsword. Thin blade, kind of like a saber, except it was straight; but still held a single edge. I didn't know what the final design looked like, but whoever made the order seemed to know exactly what they wanted, because all the details had been measured out and illustrated. This made my job much easier than some random person just asking for a sword with gems and other stuff on it.

The blade was thin, but was still made of four different pieces intended to collapse in on itself. There was no request for a hand guard or hilt, just the blade and a specially shaped prong, no doubt where the hilt would be added.

I instructed Voda to grab the needed ingots from the store room while I went about collecting my hammer and the other tools that I would need. He returned and put the metal bars in the furnace to warm.

There was a loud sizzle behind me, and I saw Albin quenching the small bits he was working on before putting them in a smaller fire to warm and keep the metal from corroding . After a few minutes of waiting Voda pulled out the first bar and placed it on the anvil. Using the tongs he held it perfectly still while I went to work hammering it out. We were still just giving it its shape so I wasn't worried too much about the lost of accuracy from not holding the tongs myself. Voda watched every move I made intently, like Blake when she was really into a chapter of her books.

When the bar started to dim, I nodded for him to swap it out. He quickly returned with a second bar, and we repeated the process. The last bar I arbitrarily decided would be the tip and took the tongs from my young apprentice so I could deliver more accurate blows. I focused on the point for the moment as backswords, unlike rapiers, were intended to be used as slashing weapons, despite having a similar appearance at first glance, but did still poses a strong thrust.

"Mrs. Arc." I heard Albin call out.

I looked over to him, only for him to flick his head to the side. I followed the movement toward the door. I was expecting a client in a white coat and a black bowler hat; but instead there was another, still just as familiar man.

He was a larger, more filled out man, though his neck just barely avoided becoming a double chin. The ass held himself up high with some misplaced sense of pride. His dark blue suit had gold stripes going down it's length and his pants were of the same blue to match. White undershirt with a blue and gold tie with thicker diagonal strips. His dark leather shoes tied the whole outfit together; and he looked like the stereotypical jackass you would find at the bank, who took a sadistic amount of delight in screwing you over.

I instructed to Voda to clean up. I doubted our guest would let me work on this order today. He didn't seem to understand, but still did as I asked. With Crescent Rose placed under my arm I stood from my seat and limped over to the suit. He was at least smart enough not to leave the area around the door. Probably in a justified fear of his clothes getting some new holes, courtesy of some stray sparks.

"Womack, I thought I told you to come back Friday." I shouted over the hammering, trying my hardest to hide my displeasure in his appearance.

"It's Mr. Polvo." He injected, annoyed by my use of his first name.

"Whatever, what do you want?"

"I am here for my order." A straight talk voice that made it clear he intended to have his way.

"Well you're gonna to have to come back Friday then."

"You have pushed back the due date five times now. Once, I can understand, as our personal lives tend to interfere with our work. But five times is far to many to excuse."

"Well you're just going to have to get over it," I growled lightly, some subconscious hope I could scare him off, "I have official hunter orders that take priority over your little toy. I help save lives here, stuff like your order is just a side project at the most."

"I will excuse your tone as it being early in the day, but that excuse is no longer valid?"

I raised an eyebrow expecting him to enlighten me.

"I have acquired an official form from the Weaponsmith Guild. Due to your refusal to complete an order as contracted, the guild will start limiting your orders and providing you with standard grade materials until you have complete my order to my utmost satisfaction."

He pulled out a folded up paper from an inside pocket in his suit and presented it to me. I flipped it open and looked it over as he continued the second half of his drabble. It did indeed contain what he said it did; actually more. I looked through all the restrictions and sanctions they were threatening to impose on me for prolonged refusal to comply with contract. The seal of the guild was emblazoned in wax at the very bottom like they expect it to add some sort of weight to its threat.

"So how much did you have to pay for that?" I mocked, folding the paper back up neatly and returning it under his suit.

"Excuse me?" Clearly not expecting my response.

"You seem to be confusing me with some unknown blacksmith who needs the guild to provide them with work and materials. I didn't even know they existed till about a month after I started up my shop. Do you really think they have any influence on me?"

"Mrs. Arc, if you fail to comply, then I will be forced to take legal measures against you."

My body took over for a moment and lashed out at him. As fast as I could without using my semblance, I reached out and grabbed his tie. I pulled him down so we were looking each other in the eyes. Weeks of having to deal with this guy, and with what's going on with Cinder, I couldn't afford to be distracted by some bullshit lawsuit.

"Alright listen here you piece of shit. You have two options: first, if you cancel your order, I'll give you a full refund. If not, then shut up and let me do my job, I'll let you know when I'm done working on your fucking toy, or-"

I paused from my rant seeing the door open in the corner of my eye. In came the man I had been expecting originally. A slight dance in his steps while whistling a soft tune to himself. He paused when he saw the sight in front of him. He started taking a slow step back out the door, but I beckoned him back in.

"Everyone! The forge is closed." I called out to my apprentices.

Albin and Kivi recognized the man and let out soft groans as the put away their supplies and half finished work.

"You too. Out." I spoke to the snob in front of me, releasing his tie.

"Mrs. Arc, I shall not be leaving this establishment until my demands are seen to." Defiant in his resolve.

"Well I guess you'll just have to cry about it to someone else." Leaning on Crescent Rose so my body language would reveal how little I cared for his opinion.

"I will not-"

"Hey Roman, can I turn in one of those favors you owe me? I need some help disposing of a body."

"I think I can do that Red. Are they expected to be dead or alive?" A smirk on his face as he looked up and down the man next to me.

"Dead."

**Alright I'm going to focus on getting this thing out since it's almost done then focus on Vytal Metros. A special thanks to "Bulletproofpencil" senpai; /u/Aljen3 on reddit for editing and checking my spelling. Also points for anyone who can guess the reference I dropped in this. Also me and a few of our fellow /r/RWBY redditors are partaking in a RWBY mod for Savage Worlds created, and GM'ed, by the beautiful /u/RobotFish11. I don't remember which one it was, but on of our fine cast members took the liberty of recording our misadventure so you can look forward to that in the near future.**

**Review + Follow; till next time cheers.**


	6. Ruby II

"Ex- Excuse me?" Womack asked, taking a half step away from me and Roman.

"I don't know Red. It might be a little hard hiding everything," Roman joked as he leaned down and patted the suit's sides, "Oh yeah, it'll be hard to hide such a big body, I think you'll have to spend two favors."

"That is highly inappropriate sir!" The third wheel said, backing away from Roman's touch.

"You're a tough stickler you know that? Fine two favors." I shrugged giving in to his demands.

"I am CEO of the Womack Dust Cooperation, I don't take threats lightly." Standing his ground in defiance.

"Well get out, and you don't have to worry." I told him, firmly, letting him know what his options were.

Roman pulled a knife from his jacket and flipped the blade through his finger while he approached the man.

"Now be a gentleman and hold still," taking a quick drag from from his cigar as he approached, "I just had my suit clean and blood is a pain to get out."

"N-Now listen here sir," Slowly backing away from the ex-criminal, "I have the ears of powerful men, and don't think I'm not willing to have them deal with you."

"Hmm, your right," Quickly Roman lashed out, grabbing the man's tie and pulling him close enough to place his knife at his throat, "I guess we'll have to start with ensuring you can't tattle to anyone."

"Roman." I called stopping him before he actually did the deed.

"Mr. Womack will you please leave?" I asked him one final time.

The man quickly nodded his head, realizing this wasn't actually a question. I nodded to Roman, and with one quick cut past the man's throat, let him fall to the ground. He grabbed his throat and made a quick gasp for air with wide eyes; his nerves didn't fully process what had just happened.

Roman rolled the knife in his hands absentmindedly while he examined the now cut tie that had been removed from Womack's neck. The suit picked himself up and ran for the door. No final threats of vengeance or any form of retaliation that could slow him down.

I walked over to my office bench searching for what Roman came for. The criminal finished looking over the cloth in his hand before throwing it in the corner, missing the waste bin, but made no attempt to try again.

"So Red, how long till you expect a lawsuit?"

"Don't care. I could plead guilty and immediately leave without being released and they couldn't touch me."

"You shouldn't abuse that privilege your status brings, otherwise people will see to have it revoked."

"Says the crime specialist that trains the criminals he apprehends."

"That's called using the system in your favor. It's just business. If I didn't make the supply, the demand for me to catch criminals would be gone by the end of the week. It's a win, win, win."

"Yes, you make money from the police for catching them like a bounty hunter, you get money when you commit crimes and bring them along to show them the ropes, and you get money as a trainer's fee while they're out on their own committing crimes till they get a bounty."

I found what I was looking for at the bottom of the pile, typical, and limped my way back over to the gentlemen waiting patiently by the door still.

"Do you even need money anymore? Surely you have enough that you could retire and live like the old kings of Atlas."

"Listen doll face, I'm too young to be retiring. I'm not yet ready to just hand myself over to the closest retirement home to waste my days away watching tv among a bunch of old folks a little under double my age."

I quickly flashed my hand up, skillfully grabbing a single hair in his bangs and giving it a good yank. His hand snapped up to his forehead to where the root was, while I examined the grey fiber. His hair was still mostly orange, but greys were starting to become more and more common. I let the hair go, floating away to the floor somewhere, while I handed him his newly repaired cane.

"Look, same deal as always; you don't rat me out, and I don't rat you out." slightly irritated at the loss of a single hair.

"Fine. Also I noticed the rifling in the shaft was a little worn. So you shouldn't have any problems with slightly inaccurate shots for a while." I explained while finding a stool to rest on.

"Ha! I knew I had that guy in the center of my crosshairs!"

"Keep telling yourself that." With a roll of my eyes as I finally managed to take a seat.

"Well Red, I think that's everything. I'll just be on my way-"

I cut him off by quickly bringing the bottom of my precious up so the butt hooked his shoulder as he started to turn away.

"I think we can talk for a bit. The forge _is_ closed after all." The cheer in my voice being no disguise to my intent.

"Eh, so what do you want to talk about?" His voice trying to sound more innocent than it had any right to be.

"Oh we have so much to talk about, how life's been, about my daughter, you know normal things people talk about."

"Well, um.. you see I have a police orientation to get to, I'm showing the cadets the proper steps to performing an investigation."

I decided to drop the charades and pulled his shoulder so he spun around to face me. In the same movement I had the hook go around the opposite shoulder and pull on his neck bringing him down to eye level with me.

"Don't fuck with me Roman! Tell me when she got out, and why I wasn't informed."

"Look, Red, that information is classif-"

"Not anymore. Tell me!"

"Alright, alright," I released his neck from Crescent Rose so he could he explain in a more civilized manner, "Look I was only told three days after myself. Apparently she escaped a week ago. I did ask the police if they planned to inform you and your team, but they said that was the warden's place on who he releases this information to."

"A week?" Letting the information process.

"According to them."

I leaned back and took a deep breath. It wasn't Roman's fault, he wasn't officially police, so of course he wouldn't learn right away. I took a second breath to make sure my nerves were calm. Feeling my aura rebalance inside me I stood up, the butt of my gun on the ground as I tucked the muzzle and stock under my arm.

"Alright, let's go."

"Don't suppose you'll let me and the police do our jobs?"

I might have been a bit shorter then him, but when my glare met his I might as well have been twice his height.

"The bitch threatened my daughter."

He nodded in acceptance and threw his arm out toward the door. I followed his lead, and limped as fast as I could to keep in step with him. My leg agitated me for my reckless movements, but I paid it no mind as I made for Roman's car.

I took the passenger seat and knocked my feet together to keep any dirt on my feet off his nice interior. He opened the center compartment and pulled out a folder for me to read while he went about pulling out of my small parking lot behind the building.

"That's everything I've gotten on Cinder so far. As normal the actual cops don't have as many details as me, since I don't need them mucking things up for me or screwing up my plans." His mind clearly more focused on the road than talking to me.

"The night Cinder broke out there was a break in at a local mall, but all that was reported was property damage and about one hundred lien worth of clothing. Even the normal police can put those dots together."

"The police have been searching the docks for the past week looking for Cinder's hideout. A Schnee Dust Company security guard supposedly engaged a women in a red dress and raven black hair, but suffered a concussion and couldn't remember anything else. Though I doubt she would make a hideout in such a place."

"Why's that?" Not that I doubted him, but it would make sense to me.

"Well I looked a little deeper," He quickly pointed at the folder and told me third page. I pulled out the pair of stapled papers and looked them over. It was a shipping inventory for a freighter that came to port early that morning. He named off three random crate numbers and I took note of their specific contents then asked why it mattered.

"The other packet in there, look at the same numbers." He stopped his sentence a little early as he swerved out of the way of someone who randomly stopped. He honked his horn as he went by and shouted a profanity, but returned to the subject at hand.

I finished looking over the list by the time he stopped raging at traffic. I noted select forms of dust were reported missing; mostly fire and earth. It was only a little from each box, but it was enough that even I could probably go on quite the rampage through the city.

"Why weren't the thefts reported to the police?"

"There was no theft as far as they know, just a few missing vials. They probably just sent complaints to Schnee dust about merchandise that never arrived."

I looked over the papers a little more, before feeling my scroll vibrate in my back pocket. My lap and seat were so covered in random sheets by the time I organized everything so none of them would get ruined, the call had already passed. I opened the call history and saw the number for Summer's School at the top of the list. Worry over washed me and I immediately redialed the number.

"Hello, Vale Basic Core School front desk. this is Elm speaking how may I help you."

"This is Mrs. Arc, Summer's mother, did something happen?" I realized only after I was near shouting into the receiver.

"Oh yes, Mrs. Amber was just trying to contact you. It seems your daughter has gotten into a little bit of trouble involving another schoolboy, she is already on the phone with your husband. I connect you to her if you would like."

"No, that's fine. Jaune can take care of it. I was just worried something else might have happened."

"Oh no, don't worry you daughter is physically fine save a light bruise on her cheek during a fight with Vang the schoolboy I mentioned, but it should be healed up by the time she get's home."

"Oh thank goodness." I breathed, glad Cinder wasn't the cause for my new strife. I thanked the secretary for the information and wished her a nice day before hanging up. My peace was short lived as some idiot trying making a last minute lane shift for the exit coming up, almost sending Roman into the wall. Once more he slammed the horn, but both me and him shouted profanities at the guy who almost got us in an accident.

He pulled up to one of the docks and I let myself out. There were a number of officers walking around, and two bullheads hovering overhead. One officer was walking toward us, but Roman went ahead to intercept him, with me in foot.

"I'm sorry Mr. Torchwick, but there is still a live investigation going on. You're friend will have to wait here." He said holding a hand up to stop us.

"Don't worry, I can assure you she has clearance." He said, leaving the young officer confused.

"Are you sure? I could get in a lot of trouble if I let her in, and I only got promoted from patrol officer recently and I would rather not go back to writing tickets." Still eyeing me suspiciously.

"Kid, you realize this is Ruby Rose right?" He gestured to me, and I gave the officer a small wave despite only being just outside arms reach, "Kid she's saved Vale so many times, She's politically untouchable, so don't worry, the sheriff will understand."

"THE Ruby Rose!" He said with glee in his voice. I was actually taken back for a moment to when Jaune was first introduced to Pyrrha. "Can I get your autograph? I already have your sister's from when I pulled her over one time, but it would be great if I could get yours too!"

"Ehh..." I'll admit, I've had plenty of people ask for my autograph, but it was always just as weird as the first time. I agreed while Roman went ahead to where the skirmish happened. I quickly painted my sloppy signature on the back of a traffic ticket with a pen provided by the officer.

"Wow! thanks a lot! I grew up reading stories about you guys, you're actually why I decided to become a police officer." He looked like he was about to squeal at a moment's notice, but somehow managed to hold it in.

"Really? You didn't want to be a hunter?"

"Well I did, but I have very little control on my aura so I couldn't get into a combat school." His mood falling from cloud nine.

"Well you know, you don't need to go to Beacon to become a hunter. If you keep working on your aura and semblance you can hire a combat tutor and become a hunter still." That was actually a lie. The most he could hope to become was a freelancer, but they did the same things for the most part; just you don't get all the privileges and such that come with the "Hunter" title; but he didn't need to know that last part

He let me go while he went off to do whatever. I regrouped with Roman who was looking over everything. The evidence hadn't been moved yet, probably because they learned from last time and didn't want to overlook anything.

"So, Cinder was going through some crates when a security guard found her?"

"Guy fired a few shots," pointing over down the dock a little were a few yellow flags had been set up seemingly randomly, "And it looks like she engaged him hand to hand, and kicked the living crap out of him."

I left halfway through his explanation toward the small flags. As I expected, each was next to a actually very large pistol. With a little effort I got on my knee, next to one and picked it up.

"Hey, don't touch those! This is a live investigation!"

I ignored the random officer and continued my personal investigation. It was a pistol round certainly, but it was very large, probably a magnum of some kind. The tip looked like it was perfectly fine, in contrast to what the jacket around it looked like. I remembered Cinder had that strange ability to block bullets, and guessed this was the result when she did so. It looked like the round was discharged, then the tip just came to a sudden halt; but the force of the jacket caused it to collapse on itself, like it if it had hit something too hard to penetrate.

I stood and turned around to see Roman holding the officer by his uniform's collar with the hook of his cane. He pulled out a small baggie from his jacket and I placed the bullet in it. He then passed it to the officer while we moved on to the next spot.

"Are we sure Cinder didn't fire her weapon? Those bullets look a little large to be security standard." Not giving Roman my complete attention.

"Yes we are. When the man called in he was attacked, he was taken to the hospital to check for any internal damage or head injury. They found him with a heavy magnum pistol rather than the standard issue. He's currently under investigation for potentially being related to the recent gang activity around the docks who also have military grade weaponry." He confirmed as I took another knee where the man had apparently been knocked out.

"If he's in the hospital then I guess it would be beyond me to go in and interrogate him about Cinder while he's potentially in critical care."

"I don't think he's in critical care, but I would think it would piss off the police to interrupt their own interrogation."

I grunted to myself quietly while I looked over the area. A few pieces of glass from a helmet visor were on the ground, as well as a tooth and a few small splats of blood. It didn't look too bad, just a very hard hit to the face. I looked around some more, seeing a ring on the ground from a belt loop but nothing that would tell me anything about Cinder specifically.

"Did you miss that?" Roman asked pointing at another flag over to the side. It was a little far to have been part of the fight, but I limped over all the same to inspect it. It looked like a masquerade mask, made of what looked like some kind of black glass.

"Cinder always enjoyed her theatrics." Roman stated looking out to the dock.

His unintentional clue cued me in, and I realized it was the same kind that she wore to the dance during my first year at Beacon. I picked it up and fully examined it, it was plain black on both sides, and for the most part was exactly the same as it was during the dance, from what memory served. I growled at myself for not drawing any kind of clue from the mask, and crushed it in my hand, letting it fall to the ground in a small pile of sand sized grains.

Roman was still looking around, so I asked him what it was that had his attention.

"This is the same dock me and your team fought on when I first teamed up with the White Fang, remember?"

I looked around and sure enough, I recognized it as the one when we first saw Penny fight. I looked around for a moment longer before I was reeled back by Roman.

"This was a planned call out for you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, not getting what he meant.

"The mask, the location. I don't think she got found out by the guard, she let him see her."

"What makes you say that?" Still not getting what he meant.

"The mask is made from a fine combination of fire and earth dust. If she already had the dust why would she need to engage the guard when she could easily just flee? This is assuming he would have noticed her to begin with."

I couldn't find any flaws in his statement so I didn't bother to come up with another solution. All I had now though, was a message, but I didn't know what the message was. We looked around a bit more, but couldn't find anything. Even when they were trying their hardest the police still found a way to be incompetent, having flagged every little thing as evidence. They flag scuff marks from tires that looked like they were there for many weeks; even a random rock on the concrete that had no value to the investigation at all.

I asked an officer why it was marked, and he just said they were going to trace its origin to see where it came from in hopes of finding more clues on where Cinder had been before; and apparently hope to find a trail or pattern to catch her. I explained that anyone might have brought it, or even the wind, but he scoffed at the idea of me denouncing what he must have considered vital evidence.

I limped back to the car, with Roman in tow. My mind was distracted, trying to figure out what the message could mean. She already left a threat, so this clearly wasn't to reveal herself to me, but what could it be. I took my seat before being pulled out of my thoughts when I realized I was sitting on something.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," Realizing I had sat on an envelope that must have fallen out of his folder.

"That's not mine." His voice showing no knowledge of the mentioned object.

I lifted an eyebrow at him, but he shrugged before returning his focus to driving. I flipped the envelope over a few times, it wasn't sealed in any way and was completely blank. Since Roman didn't know what it was I opened it up thinking he wouldn't care. I pulled out a single piece of folded paper, with a paper clip along the bottom that pinned a smaller sheet to it. I raised the fold that blocked the text before feeling my blood pressure reach a new record peak.

"_What a lovely husband you have."_

I pulled the smaller sheet from the paper clip and flipped it so I could see what it had. It took every ounce of my will not to punch a hole through a window, or destroy the the dashboard.

"Roman take me home, NOW!"

"What? what is it?"

"That bitch has Jaune and Summer!" I roared.

I presented what turned out to be a photograph of Jaune and Summer tied up with blindfolds. He only could give it half his eye as he navigated the river of idiots, but he didn't need more than that to know what it was. He pressed a button on the dash board and the front of his car started flashing red and blue. Traffic cleared away immediately and he sped down the highway as fast as he could.

The trip was much faster than usual and I didn't even wait for him to finish stopping when I jumped out of the car and hopped on one foot as fast as I could for the door. My shoulder was faster then my hand turning the knob and I could feel myself do a little bit of damage to the latch, but I wasn't at all focusing on that. I threw Crescent Rose on the back of my waist as I bound up the stairs for my room. I burst through my door, this time slowing down enough not to risk the handle.

I stripped down as fast as I could letting my cloths go where ever they landed I opened the wardrobe and smiled to see my combat uniform still hanging on the small mannequin within.

I put on my stockings and under shirt, before putting on my combat shorts and blouse top. I rolled the sleeves up past my elbows and pulled on the leather vambraces and the fingerless gloves. I made a few flexes of my full arm and wrist to make sure they were on right and didn't restrict my movement, then slipped the metal plates underneath the pads on my forearm and the top of my palms.

I tightened the ends of my shorts then I grabbed my waist cape and wrapped it around, before strapping it on with the matching sash. I pulled my ammo belt around my waist, then lined it with my powerful "Reaper" bullets. Clipping my pouch to the side. I filled the pack with the best ammunition I had. I then packed the inhaler like device that was my old painkiller injector. I had told Yang long ago I had gotten rid of it, but I kept it around all these years just incase I needed it. I then packed my "stress relief" and placed the small carton in what little amount of room I had left.

I grabbed my black combat boots like the ones I had when I was young and did the red laces, and tightened the strap so it was tight. The metal plates that protected the front were screwed in last.

With all my combat gear on I returned my leg brace around my knee and stood with Crescent Rose once more in my hand. I limped over to my wardrobe and pulled the last item in it. With a single movement I pulled pulled the red fabric over my head before letting it fall on my shoulders. I pinned my cloak just below my collar like I always did then took a quick look in the mirror to check everything was on right.

Satisfied with everything I walked out to the door, this time at a more reasonable pace. I stepped out of the door to see Roman leaning on his door smoking one of his cigars.

"You clean up nice kid." He joked before dropping his cigar on the pavement and smoldering it under his cane.

I didn't respond as I walked around back to the passenger seat. He was already inside starting the car when I took my seat and he asked me where too. I handed him the picture again, and told him to look at the back ground.

"Is that a factory?"

"As you said, she likes her theatrics. She doesn't just want a rematch. She wants round two."

**Next time on Last Spark: It's the final battle Ruby vs Cinder, who will win! Find out next time!**

**Thanks to /u/Spartacus400 for editing, really, progress would not be as fast without him, his little box in the corner for some reason spurs me on to keep writing instead of getting distracted by Dirty Bomb or something.**

**Though It is still in rough draft form, the next story in the Last Spark AU is in the works, and it's one lots of people have been asking for. I won't reveal details now, but I will next chapter.**

**Review+ Follow; till next time cheers.**


	7. The Last Spark

The far corner of the factory district. Seventeen years ago it was the sight of a fierce battle between Team RWBY, in their third year at Beacon,and Cinder. The damage left many of the buildings in ruin from a large fire that broke out in one of the factories. From the looks of it, it didn't seem like anyone was in much of a rush to demolish them or fix them up, content to leave them in ruin. A memory of a not so distant past that would have greatly changed the flow of history.

Roman pulled up to the factory where the fire originated and took the handicap spot in front of the door. Stealth wasn't an option, and frankly Ruby didn't care. Cinder knew she was coming and they knew talking wouldn't, nor couldn't, be an option.

"Ruby, you sure you don't want to get some kind of backup?" Roman called from the car.

"No! This is between me and her, you stay out of this." She roared back before stepping up to the old heavy slide door.

It wasn't rusted over like she expect, and it moved fairly easily. Inside the building was almost completely black from old ash. multiple trails of tiny paw prints ran every which way along with both old and new human ones. Much of the ash on the supports and walls had fallen to the floor. The work machinery had been moved out from last time, leaving it barren, with only the grey dusty squares that contrasted with the black ash to tell they were ever there. The roof was still whole oddly enough. The fire department must have arrived in time, but she still didn't trust it to hold the weight of someone if they tried to climb up top. The upper catwalk was also in decent condition. A few places had lost strength in their supports, but for the most part it seemed safe to stand on.

"Ruby?" A male voice called from the still dark building.

"Jaune?" She replied recognizing the owner with ease.

"Mommy!" Summer's cry made her forget the situation and she moved as quickly as she could in the direction of her daughter's call.

She stopped a little short of where they were. The light coming through the few windows that weren't blacked out, and the door only provided minimal light. She could see their silhouettes still tied to the chairs, but that wasn't what stopped her. As she approached another shadow walked out from behind a support pillar just behind them. A gold eye glowed in the darkness as she strutted up to her hostages.

"Took you long enough. I thought you didn't care." Her voice hinting at a smirk on her hidden face. Ruby growled at the woman, angered by the thought of her being so being so close to Jaune or Summer.

"Alright Cinder, I'll give you a chance to release them unharmed. I'll be willing to let you get a day head start to hide or turn yourself in so the police can protect you when I set out to kill you." Despite making the offer, Ruby was so angry she would probably just kill Cinder right here and now anyways.

"As much as I want to reject your offer, I'm afraid that it's not even a choice." Walking up behind Summer.

A flame engulfed her hand, illuminating both her and her victims. Jaune was calm, slightly moving his hands, probably trying to find a way to free himself. Summer though recoiled away from the open flame immediately.

"You see, your daughter is a little too brave for her own good." The women wrapped her fingers around Summer's jaw, and pulled the girls face around so she was facing Ruby. The flame was brought up so her face was in clear view of the Rose.

Ruby hesitated to react. Anger and fear conflicted with each other inside her mind. Summer only had her right eye covered by the blindfold, The left was wrapped up in bandages. The outlines of burned flesh ran along the bottom of the white linen stopping just short of her mouth.

"Oh yeah it was really bad. Looking at it made me sick to my stomach so I just had fix it up." She grinned while in her position of power while Ruby stood conflicted in her reaction.

"Mommy." It was a soft cry, but Summer's plead was just loud enough for her mother to hear. Anger finally won out as Ruby let out a roar of anger that caused some debris to fall from the ceiling in random spots.

Without any warning Crescent Rose was in battle form and Ruby was already halfway across the distance between her and Cinder. With Summer and Jaune right in the way, she couldn't go for a killing blow just yet, instead she put a spin in her flight so she could come around with full force.

Cinder leapt back to avoid the first swipe as Ruby flew over her family's heads. Crescent Rose's shaft slid through her left hand while the blade reached out parallel with it. She landed hard, but her momentum was enough to keep her going a little more as she slid toward her target pivoting on her heel. Her scythe came around wide from the left forcing cinder to make a full disengage to avoid her superior reach.

She stopped her pivot and let her weapon lash out in her hand to her right till the momentum stopped. She gripped it in her right hand as it finished it's rotation, muzzle facing the filthy concrete floor. Her nerves finally realized what she just did and a shock went up her spine as her leg roared in protest at the stunt she just performed.

A gasp escaped her lips, loud enough for everyone present to hear. Her hand fell to her badly hurting leg and attempted to sooth some of the pain, but didn't have time to alleviate it in any way. Cinder smiled at her pain and threw her attack. Before it even left her hand Ruby jumped into the air, with the aid of her weapon. She twisted down to see the flame leaving her hand, toward where she had been a moment before. It was a clear miss, but it was still a threat, for right in it's path sat Summer and Jaune.

Swiftly she did her best to twist around and brought her scythe into its rifle form so she could aim better at the flying fireball. The first shot was a little short, only snagging the tail, but the second bullet broke right through the orb causing it to lose its form and disperse a few feet out from Summer.

The extra shots sent Ruby even further up into the air and she neared the ceiling. A low hanging support stood in a collision course with her. Deftly she fired a third round to spin her upright and brought her precious back into scythe form. With a single cut she split the steel beam in two letting her pass safely. She didn't just break the beam though. As she passed there was a loud groan and snap as part of the roof collapsed and fell to the floor with a loud crash. The rest of the building remained standing and only the single spot was made a skylight, but it was enough to remind Ruby she had to restrain herself so long as Jaune and Summer were inside.

She resolved she needed to take the fight outside as she landed on the catwalk. Her leg protested again at the force of the landing, but the part of the catwalk she was on cried more. A loud squeaking sound rang through the factory as a single side lost it's grip and broke from the wall. Ruby tumbled off down the newly created ramp onto the floor.

Ruby sat herself up rubbing the back of her head after the small tumble. Violently her head was thrown back as something hard and fast collided with her forehead. If not for her hand it would have had the extra benefit of slamming her head into the wall behind her. Her aura tingled this time she noticed and was fast enough to move to the side as a glass arrow shattered on the wall where she was just a moment ago. Alert once more she rolled from her sitting position into a cartwheel till she was on her feet again.

Cinder held her bow, another arrow already notched. Seeing Ruby at the ready though she hesitated and loosened her arrow before stepping back away from the light shining down from above, back into the darkness. Ruby did the same going the other way trying to avoid easy sight. Though every other step was given away by the echoing sound of metal on concrete as Ruby walked through the darkness, trying her best to hide her presence.

Pulling away from all the light, there was little that could be seen. The door and hole were on the same half of the building and all the light flooded into that area, the rest was pitch black. Ruby grunted softly for the third time after walking into a support beam for the third time. She heard a metal tap, but it didn't sound like it had been from her. She paused, but the sound didn't return. She could have sworn she heard something, and decided to wait it out.

It was only ten seconds before her patience ran dry. With a single silent step from her good leg she heard the tap again. Slowly she turned around to where it came from. Another tap and she confirmed Cinder's location. She was walking along the catwalk just above her, probably hoping to see something in the darkness. Ruby wasn't sure of how successful that endeavor would be since even from such a close position, Cinder was almost indistinguishable from the darkness.

Ruby readied her scythe to take off Cinder's head, but paused. Looking at her surrounding she let patience fill her. She waiting for the opportunity for an attack that would be more beneficial even if it failed, rather than an attempted death blow. Slowly she moved a few steps to her right to get into a better position and readied Crescent Rose. Her aura remained repressed until she knew it was the time to strike. She didn't know how acute Cinder's ability to sense foreign aura was and couldn't risk tipping her off.

Cinder took a few more steps at a quicker speed.

_One… Two… THREE!_

In an instant Ruby's aura was up in full force, Cinder didn't turn till the moment the gunshot fired and propelled toward her. She turned to the origin of the sound and raised a glyph like barrier to block the attack like ruby speculated. Her foot had been leading the charge and she stepped down on it with her good leg before kicking off. Once in the darkness again she folded up her weapon into its rifle mode and ejected the bullet in the chamber before manually placing a different one in its stead. Cinder lowered her defense and lit a flame in her palm to counter attack in the direction of her attacker.

That instant Ruby fired a devastating Reaper Round square at her target's illuminated form in the darkness. Cinder interrupted her attack to defend herself and did so successfully, but it didn't stop Ruby from getting what she wanted.

When the bullet collided with her palm, the room lit up from a large explosion. Though the bullet and the blast were stopped from harming her, the force still sent the raven haired woman flying back through the ash covered window Ruby had waited for her to stand in front of. Light flooded inside the building and Ruby had the benefit of seeing where she was falling.

She landed on her back, but quickly rolled onto her feet with ease. She made for the window and when she was close enough she propelled herself with a shot from Crescent Rose. As she neared the window mid flight, Cinder had recovered and had just appeared once more with the intent of returning to the fray herself.

The mistress had a look of surprise as Ruby gave a soft squeak before the two collided. The two twisted through the air uncontrollably before landing hard on the pavement outside. They bounced off the surface before landing hard for a second time. Ruby sat up her hand finding something soft to prop herself on while the other rubbed her forehead. A groan of pain not from her made her open her eyes to realize she was mounting Cinder with her hand on the older women's breast.

Snapping back to action, her free hand wrapped around Cinder's neck, soon being assisted by the other. Cinder grabbed her wrist in an attempt to relieve her neck of the crushing pressure. Gasp started to escape her throat in her desperate attempt to breath. Ruby pressed harder trying to crush the woman's neck.

In the desperate struggle, Cinder resorted to a last ditch effort and released one of Ruby's wrists so she could form a glass dagger in her hand. Ruby had no chance of dodging the wicked blade as each piece broke on contact with her aura letting the next curve stab into her all the way to the hand guard. The blow to her shoulder though didn't deter her. She felt a massive blow to her aura, but focused on finishing her opponent.

Though effective it didn't have the effect she wanted. Pulling back her hand, she formed a second blade and brought it down again. Whether intentional or not, it didn't matter, all that did was Cinder's second blade came down on Ruby's bad leg, and the final inch of the blade managed to pierce through her aura.

Ruby screamed in pain, exchanging her grip on Cinder's throat for her injured leg. The raven haired women gasped for breath, holding it with her hand to convince herself she was free. Ruby flopped beside her still roaring in pain over the glass shard impaling her leg. Finally working enough sense, she pulled the blade out so her aura could get to work, stopping the bleeding.

A violent force struck her temple. The blow forced her to roll over onto her stomach. The pain in her leg finally faded enough for her to try standing up. As she stood up, another blow to the back of the head slammed her face down into the pavement. When she collected herself she wasn't face down on the ground, but that immediately changed as she was slammed face down once more.

She could feel blood flowing through her nose and her face felt it was more than a little roughed up. The grip on the back of her skull let go and Ruby spent the moment trying to stand. She crawled onto her knees before a heel came down on the back of her bad knee. Cinder continued to grind her foot on Ruby's scarred leg as she fell back to the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs in pain.

"Don't worry I'm not going to kill you just yet. I'm going to wait till you become jaded from the pain, then inflict the same on your husband and daughter and let you listen to their screams. Then I guess I can be merciful and kill them in front of you. Maybe if I have the time I'll even get around to doing the same thing to all your friends."

The simple movements on Ruby's leg were more then enough to keep her paralyzed in pain, and showed no signs of wearing off.

"Tell me do you want me to do your husband or daughter first? They'll both die, but who would you like to suffer having to watch the other suffer and die?"

Ruby didn't answer the question, she didn't even realize Cinder was talking over her pain and screaming. Her voice though couldn't handle all the screaming and started becoming ragged from its overuse. Her voice finally gave out into coughs, but Ruby still couldn't move.

Cinder realized there was another noise, like a motorcycle coming near; it's motor having been drowned out by Ruby's screaming. Cinder let up a little to make the scene look inconspicuous while the potential witness went by. Ruby tried to get up, but was stomped back flat onto the ground.

A yellow blur rounded the corner and turned hard, cutting the traffic lines in a beeline for Cinder. She stepped back realizing there were two chainguns mounted to the front of the speeding sportsbike. She guessed the new arrival's intent and jumped high into the air just as a mass of gunfire consumed the spot she was just standing proved her right.

The motorcyclist swerved to the side so they wouldn't hit Ruby still on the ground. the front wheel hit the sidewalk and the whole craft went air born. Cinder was only at the peak of her jump and realized she had no way to dodge her new attacker as they dismounted from the bike mid flight and kicked off to intercept her fall. The bracelets around their hands extended into familiar gauntlets as Yang cocked back her fist as she neared her target.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" She roared having her fist slam into Cinder's gut. A shotgun blast accompanied the already potent blow, sending Cinder flying away like a bullet toward the heavy brick wall to the factory.

The dark haired women braced herself for contact but hit much sooner than she anticipated. Actually it was harder than a brick wall should have, and it was cold. She landed on her feet, but stumbled to keep her balance. Standing upright she inspected what she just hit to see a tall spire of ice reaching for the sky. Standing on the peak was another women clad in all white. A metal breast plate on her chest and a white overcoat resting on her shoulders, hanging on by a golden rope connecting both shoulders in the front.

She wore a pure white, featureless mask with the only markings being four dark blue diamonds placed to form a larger one at the far corner of her right eye placed like a single teardrop. Despite not seeing her face, Cinder recognized her white pony tail, even if it was only a fourth of its length from last time she saw it, and the rapier in her hand.

"Well I guess that means I don't have to look for you. When's the last one showing up?"

"Sorry Blake is out of town for the month," Yang called from behind her, "But don't worry we'll make up for her absence." cracking her knuckles in agreement with herself.

"Yang, see to Ruby and Summer, I'll handle Cinder."

"Back off princess, she hurt Ruby so she's mine!"

"Yang I don't have time for you to fool around with her. I have a mission I'm suppose to be leaving for in a few minutes, so let me finish this quickly."

"You can go gaga over my uncle later, for now let's just focus on stopping her."

She didn't respond, deciding to just drop the argument. The two turned their attention to Cinder, who had plenty of time to collect herself. Yang charged in head on as one would expect throwing a heavy blow at Cinder's head. She sidestepped the blow and swiped her leg under the brawler's causing her to stumble and roll forward to stop from face planting into the ground.

"Smooth one, dolt." Weiss commented landing next to her, while the ice pillar behind them melted at a rapid pace.

"Shut it princess." she retorted.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ruby asked finally managing to bring herself to a wobbly standing position.

Weiss flicked her head toward Cinder to let brawler let at her. Yang didn't need more motivation and charged forward like before, but this time more prepared for Cinder's speedy counters.

Weiss walked over to Ruby presenting her with a folded up Crescent Rose. she took it and immediately brought it to bare so she could balance on it.

"Roman called us saying you would need help."

"I told him not to! This is my fight!"

"No we started this together, and as your friend, it's my job to look out what's best for you. Whether you like it or not."

She growled at the use of that line, but couldn't argue.

"Fine. If you want to help then go get Jaune and Summer, make sure they're safe."

"Ren is already inside taking care of them."

"Then why did you want Yang to go in and get them?"

"I wanted her out of the way so I could take care of Cinder quickly, but she's just as stubborn and thick head as always."

Ruby took a breath to calm her nerves. After a breath, she nodded to Weiss letting her know she was ok. Weiss returned to the fight and readied her rapier when Ruby suddenly shouted out "Ice flower!" She was caught off guard by the sudden outburst but seeing Ruby perform the memorized actions before the tip came down into the pavement. She winced from putting her weight on her knee, but was able to focus enough to take aim. Weiss's glyphs formed up along the path of the projectile. She fired the round with a brilliant light show of white around it as it traveled.

Cinder had two glass blades in her hands as she battled with the aggressive brawler. She had already gone through several blades as they shattered when Yang blocked them with a counter blow. Cinder was trying to figure out how to beat the brawler as she was able to break both blades with a single headbutt.

Her full face motorcycle helmet could take quite a blow and her shoulder, elbow, and knee pads were just as hard. The metal horns and blades mounted to the steel plates on the toes of her boots greatly supplemented her kicking prowess and covered the weakness enough so Cinder couldn't abuse it.

Finally she managed to weave through the brawler's attacks and brought her blade up to pierce her exposed midriff. Her attack was thrown off course as a white light collided with her hand. Seeing her opening, Yang side stepped away to get a better blow in as she brought her right fist up into a powerful uppercut. The blow carried Cinder overhead before her body finally outpaced the fist and she went flying through the air away from the three girls.

Yang jumped back after seeing Cinder crash into the wall of a different factory. She slid the last few meters on her heels till she came to a stop between her teammates.

"You ok Rubes?"

"I'm fine thanks to you." Only receiving a smile from her sister in response

"Both of you go help Ren take care of Jaune and Summer. I'll handle it from here."

"You think you can take her?" Weiss asked her more concerned than outraged.

"I know I can, just stay out of my way." Her voice firm with authority.

She took a few steps forward taking a deep breath as she reached as far into her aura reserve as she could. Weiss and Yang both looked around feeling the air pressure change, like it was about to rain, yet the grey clouds in the sky didn't look like they would rain for another hour or so.

Wind started to pick up, flowing around them. Yang and Weiss nodded to each other and ran for the open window Ruby and Cinder had made their exit from minutes before. The raven haired women herself was examining her hand. It was encased in a shard of ice, and was burning her skin, but through the clear surface she could see a huge hole in her palm. Her fingers looked like they were being held on by a thin stretch of flesh and her thumb didn't look like it was connected at all.

The wind developed from a strong breeze to a violent torrent. The windows of the old buildings rattled, and the air moaned as it passed through the small spaces. the clouds directly overhead started to twist into a spinning motion.

Ruby was concentrating on pulling everything out for one attack. For what Ozpin called; a Primal. She had never met anyone other than her old instructor able to perform it, and the one time she did see him use it he spent a week in the hospital. Finally she was ready and she opened her eyes to release her concentration.

Instantly the heavy winds, turned lethal. Windows exploded as they were ripped from their frames, splintering into tiny shards. Cinder looked up to see the deadly display flying toward her. Ruby stood in the middle of it, petals leaping off her body and joining the deadly shards. Her body was glowing red with aura. The sheer amount of power in the air caused Cinder's mind to pause. She wasn't sure how she should be acting how she should defend. All she saw was the girl in red before her suddenly explode into a cloud of petals, red like roses.

The cyclone of red slammed into her, pressing her up on the wall as the glass sliced into her aura. Or was it just the glass? The consistent barrage made Cinder think that the petals were just as deadly as the clear debris within the typhoon of death. The direction of the attack shifted and she was pushed down the hard brick wall onto the ground, crushed beneath all the force. Her aura started to waver and she founder herself being pushed along the ground, the hard cement doing a number on her before she found herself thrown into the air.

She didn't fall like she would have hoped. The deadly hurricane kept her suspended, surrounding her and attacking from every direction. Finally the first cut broke through, it was small, no larger than a paper cut on the tip of her nose, but that wasn't the worst of it. The first cut almost instantly turned into two, then ten, then thirty. Within only a second almost all of Cinder's body had been ravaged by the endless assault. more cuts went deeper, slicing into her muscles. Skin was violently ripped from her skin. She tried to screamed in pain as a glass shard went into her eye, but only choked on blood when a different piece went into her mouth piercing the back of her throat.

Her mind was consumed with agony as the infinite barrage ripped her form apart. Her eye lid for her remaining good eye was sliced away giving her sight of her fate. So much red everywhere. For a moment her mind contemplated how to ask for mercy, but she never managed to, for one brief moment she thought she saw someone take from among the rose petals. Red flashes rolled up the cyclone, and passed through her, then it all went black as one passed through her neck.

The cloud of petals and shrapnel paused, floating in the air, before exploding in every direction. Ruby fell straight down from the cloud, landing perfectly on her good foot. There was a wet thud behind her, followed by many more as the different parts fell to the ground independently of the rest. Her breathing was short and hard, as she stood. A moment later glass and petals rained from the sky, but Ruby's aura was still just strong enough to protect her. The clear surface littered the ground while the red rose petals disintegrated upon touching the ground. But even after they vanished red was left behind coating everything around her in blood.

"HOLY GRIMMBANE!" Yang shouted from the window, both her and Weiss having seen the bloody display.

Ruby didn't acknowledge her sister, instead making for the sidewalk still clear of her rampage. She fell on her butt on the edge and took a moment to collect herself. She reached into her pouch and produced a carton of her "stress relief." She snagged one of it's contents between her teeth before producing a zippo to light it.

She filled her lungs with a single drag and held it for a second before letting the smoke flow out. The concentrated painkiller drug immediately got to work, just as quickly as the medical injector did, but had a much stronger effect.

"Well I think we can agree my 'criminal sense' was right in thinking I would have just gotten in the way if I joined in." Roman taking a seat next to her.

"You don't rat me out, I don't rat you out." She commented before taking another puff of the illegal concentration of her painkiller.

"I think I can do that." He said, taking what was left of her fag and flicking it out of his fingers into a nearby drainage hole in the street.

Ruby stared at her hand, slowly flexing her fingers before curling them up into a fist.

"Why Jaune. You didn't tell my you dyed your hair orange." Her rough voice clearly not amused by the stunt he just pulled.

"Jaune does the exact same thing, so I don't know why you're angry at me for doing it for him." Inching away from her slightly.

"Because. Unlike you, he can make up for it in the bedroom." she growled, annoyed.

She stopped herself from strangling him, when her vision suddenly went blurry.

"Can you call an ambulance for two?"

"Two?" Ruby nodded her body started to wave back and forth slightly.

"Summer's eye got hurt and I want someone to look at it. Plus once my leftover aura wears off I'm going to start throwing up blood."

"Uh, sure?" Not really a response toward her as he pulled his scroll and dialed the hospital's emergency number.

"Hey sis! That was so cool, you got to tell me where to learned that!" Yang shouted. The metal soles of her boots crunching the glass underfoot as she ran up to Ruby.

"N-not this second Yang I-I'm a-"

"Of course not right now. You should rest." She started slamming her hand into Ruby's back in a sign of pride in her sister. The force though caused Ruby to fall forward onto her hands. The sudden movement upset her stomach and Ruby emptied it's contents onto the pavement; with more than just a couple red spots in it. She wretched again this time with it being almost completely red.

"Bloody titans! RUBY!" Yang yelled, as she watched Ruby puke up more blood for a third time before falling face first into her mess.

"RUBY!" she shouted, but her sister was already out cold. Roman waved his scroll to catch Yang's eye before explaining the ambulance is already on it's way. It didn't reduce her panic as she performed basic field medicine on her to try and keep her well. She cursed herself for not paying attention more in class, but did what she could remember.

The ambulance arrived and gave a quick examination of her condition. blood was leaking out of her body through her stomach and nose. They quickly applied a temporary fix of green dust to stop it's flow while they loaded her up alongside Yang, Weiss, Jaune, Summer, and Ren.

:::::

Ruby took a sharp breath, it felt like the first one she had taken in hours. Her lungs felt great as the sudden rush of oxygen entered them. She opened her eyes to see Jaune and Summer looking down at her.

"Mommy! Mommy! You're awake!" Summer cheered, bouncing up and down in her spot.

"Summer." She she muttered in reply reaching out for her daughter. The girl jumped onto the bed and crawled up next to her mother. Jaune's face descended toward her and she reached up to meet her lips with his. The door to her hospital room was kicked open off its hinges as Yang ran in with arm fulls of soda in each.

"Out of the way Vomit Boy!" She yelled running over to place the cans on the closest table surface before leaping over the table at the end of Ruby's bed as she dived into the bed on the opposite side of Summer.

Ruby gasped under the crushing pressure of Summer and Yang squeezing her.

"Yang! You're going to kill her, let go!" Weiss shouted as she entered the room. Following behind was Blake both still in her combat gear, then Ren, and Pyrrha and everyone else; even SSSN.

"What was that Rubes! Where did you learn that? Can you show me! That was so cool!" she exclaimed, getting comfortable in Ruby's bed at her side while Summer nuzzled closer to her.

"You'll have to ask Ozpin. That was the first time I actually used it."

Everyone started to bombard her with question from, "What happened?" to "How's life been treating you?" Ruby ignored them all though, she was looking at Summer. She had a bandanna like cloth around her left eye. An absent minded hand reached up and stroked where her eye would be.

"Isn't it cool?" Summer exclaimed seeing Ruby's interest, "I had this dumb looking white patch at first, but Mr. Conch gave me these. He said his grandfather had them during the war almost a hundred years ago."

"Doctor Conch, Summer." Jaune interjected.

Ruby didn't hear any of it. She just felt tears building in her eyes. The cloth being a reminder of her inability to protect her daughter.

"Why are you crying?" Her daughter asked in her innocent naivety.

"I was just so scared," Pulling her daughter into a hug, that matched the one Yang just inflicted on her, "Scared I would lose you, or worst."

"What do you mean?"

"I promised I would never leave you." Tears now falling freely from from her eyes.

Summer just returned the hug, followed by Yang soon after.

"Get in here Vomit Boy, your doll needs you." she stated pulling Jaune in as well. Soon everyone in the room was in what could only be call a dogpile rather than a group hug, but all the same it brought peace to Ruby's worried mind. Or maybe it was the lack of oxygen from all the people crushing her chest; she passed out before she could figure it out.

**It's finally done! Well, almost I'm planning to do a short epilogue; but for the most part you can consider the storyline done! A very SPECIAL thank you to everyone who fav'ed, followed, and reviewed. It's always nice to see that people consider this dribble I write as worthy of their time.**

**A special thanks also to /u/Spartacus400 for editing and helping me put this out sooner. Thanks a ton bud.**

**Now as I said last time some details about the next upcoming story for the "Last Spark AU." It's still in plot skeleton form and I can't tell you when the first chapter is coming out, but I can tell you this: It'll be called "The Low Road" and will be centered around Ruby just after her leg was crippled 17 years before this story's start.**

**In the mean time though, I'm going to be starting a poll for another one-shot in the AU like "The Heart of a Huntress is What's Inside Me." So stop by my profile page and vote for who you want it to be centered around.**

**Fav+Review, and make sure you Follow me for more to come; till next time, CHEERS!**


	8. Epilogue

**Make sure you vote on the poll on my profile page about who you think should star in the next oneshot in the Last Spark AU.**

"My, my, my, has our little hero forgotten his sword?"

Jaune stood on his knees at the head of his bed his shirt on the floor letting his bare skin shine in the moon light.

"I need not my sword to slay you foul creature." A grin on his face as a Beowolf mask peeked over the foot of the bed.

"Oh? Surely a little human like you couldn't possibly think they could defeat me." The beowolf mask only went down to Ruby's cheeks and her smile hinted what she wanted.

"I know I can, I still have my trusty 'spear." Ruby pulled herself onto the bed then proceeded to crawl toward him on her hands and knees.

"So, our little hero thinks he can protect the village all by his lonesome?" She mocked, crawling closer and closer.

"Proceed only if you wish to impale yourself upon my 'shaft.' Monster."

Ruby smiled as she finally reached him. Her hand reached up for his pant's zipper, before slowly bringing it down. Both shared a smile as her hand reached past the vale of fabric looking for the alleged spear he mentioned.

"Dad!"

"..."

"..."

"She's calling for you." Ruby mocked, leaving Jaune to groan in annoyance as he zipped up his fly and proceeded to get out of bed. He grabbed the small cup of water on his night rest and quickly made his way to Summer's room. He gently cracked the door open and peeked inside to see Summer's silver eye shining in the moonlight back at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, already knowing what it was.

"I'm thirsty, and my throat hurts." she stated.

Jaune presented the glass and walked over and took a seat on the mattress. Summer took the glass and gulped down the water, avoiding any spills before giving it back.

"Thank you." she stated, handing back the glass.

"Alright, get some sleep sweety, you have school tomorrow."

"If I wake up on time can we go get ice cream again?"

"Sure, but only a large this time. Mom wants me to watch how many treats you get."

She muttered a soft "Ok," while Jaune gave her a kiss on the forehead, and a second on the lips.

"I love you Summer, get some sleep."

"I love you too." she stated while Jaune walked away and silently closed the door behind him.

He returned to his room to a lovely sight. Ruby had stripped her body bare with only the beowolf mask still over the top half of her head. She laid sprawled out on their bed, giving him a lustful smile and made subtle movements to reroute his blood exactly where she wanted it.

"Oh no, that poor village. What is our little hero going to do about it, hm?" she teased causing Jaune to leap the two meters onto the bed so he was right on top of her.

Lips meet as Jaune quickly placed the empty cup on the end table. His lips then started trailing down her chin to her neck and continued down her soft skin. He gave both of her large breast a quick peck, causing her to moan softly before moving toward her belly button. He went lower and lower before finally Ruby grabbed his head and pulled him back up so his body was over heres.

"Stop teasing and just spear me already." she demanded.

Jaune smiled more than happy to comply with her. Realizing she just gave him the power he decided to toy with her. Slowly he pulled down the zipper making Ruby gave a small groan of frustration. Ruby could feel the fire between her legs demanding he smother it. A huge smile spread across her face as he finished pulling down his zipper. He toyed with her for a second longer, taking his sweet time pulling out his-

"Dad!"

Both gave irritated groans over their daughter's repeat offence.

"Who's idea was it to have kids again?" He asked, but was clearly glaring at Ruby.

"Hey! You were the one who resolved they wanted to be a father after you got me pregnant that first time." She argued back.

"Dad!"

"Well go on, you're faster. And be quick about it, I need you to fuck me ASAP. If I get blue balls I'm going to makes yours turn actual blue!" She demanded, letting him know it wasn't up for debate.

Jaune rezipped himself before jumping back to the floor and running to Summer's door. He opened it, though a little less softly then last time. Summer was still in bed, but she had her blanket pulled up to her face and was was tucked away in the corner of the mattress.

"What is it?" Not recognizing her abnormal behavior.

"I can't sleep." He figured it out and walked over to her bed before getting on his knees.  
"Is there a monster under your bed?" He asked going ahead and looking underneath the bedframe.

"No, I'm scared the evil lady will come back." He pulled himself upright and looked at her with great concern.

"Don't worry Summer, she won't be back. Mommy took care of her."

"But what if she does comeback?"

He took a breath, accepting the decision he was making and the pain that would come later. He pulled Summer's blanket away and scooped her up into his hands.

"Don't worry, you can sleep with me and mom tonight." For anyone older, they would be able to recognize he was purposely saying it loud enough so everyone in the house could hear him. Summer through...

"Shh! You'll wake mom." Placing her finger to her lips, not realizing she was being almost just as loud.

Jaune rolled his eyes, another gesture that went over her head, as he made his way back to his room, swaying the girl in his arms to help her relax. Ruby was already under the blanket with a longsleeve shirt on, and hopefully a pair of pajama pants underneath the covers.

"See. You woke mom up." Summer commented seeing that Ruby was awake.

"I'm sorry for waking you dear." Playing along with the good role model, part of being a parent.

"Oh, it's alright. Here, you want to sleep next to me?" Patting the center of the bed for Jaune to lay her down.

Jaune set her down, and Summer immediately started to snuggle up next to Ruby while Jaune took his regular spot.

Ruby pulled Summer even closer to her before softly whispering into her ear, "You don't need to be afraid, I'll always be here to protect you." before finishing with a small peck on the forehead.

A minute later, a soft snore escaped Summer. Ruby looked up at Jaune who had a slightly annoyed glare as he looked back at her.

"You know I love her with all my heart, but some days she seems to almost be purposely testing that love."

"Wake up early and I'll meet you in the shower."

Jaune grunted, before turning his gaze to the ceiling and waited for sleep to overtake him, quickly muttering "Still haven't earned my forgiveness from last time yet either." While he still had the chance.

Ruby smiled, he acted like it mattered to him, but in reality it didn't. She softly scooted Summer over to his side before pulling herself in. Jaune weaved a hand underneath the two and pulled his rose slightly closer.

"I love you."

"I love the sex too."

"Ruby." Opening an eye to glare at her.

"We've said it so many times, I don't think we need to tell each other anymore. I want to be happy about the other things we have."

Summer squirmed in her sleep, but settled down when Ruby gave her a kiss on the forehead. She looked up to see Jaune still glaring and gave a sigh in defeat.

"I love you too." Craning her neck out to kiss him on the lips before closing her eyes to let sleep take her. Having her knight's arm wrapped around her, and Summer safe between them brought unparalleled peace to her mind as she slipped into her wonderland with a smile on her face.

**Alright last chapter I said the story was done. This is the last thing, I planned this since chapter 2 because I wanted to go out on a happy note instead of what the finale was, show things are back to normal for the three so to say. Also "The Low Road" is now officially ****past its plot skeleton state. I can't promise when the first chapter will be up, but it is now officially in production.**

**Review+Fav; till next time cheers.**


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